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Fingers crossed — Amusement parks scrambling, hopeful

Although they won’t open as originally planned, local amusement park officials remain optimistic they will open soon.

‘The ownership and management team of DelGrosso’s have been continuously monitoring and following regional and national health mandates related to COVID-19,” General Manager Carl Crider Jr. said in a letter to guests and employees. “It is our hope to be able to open DelGrosso’s Park the end of May or as soon thereafter as possible, once restrictions are lifted, and it is deemed safe to do so.”

“This is like nothing we have ever experienced before,” DelGrosso’s spokeswoman Amy Mearkle said. “Like many businesses, we just have to follow the guidelines and each day do what we are allowed to do. Safety of our employees and guests is always our No. 1 priority. The park itself has to be closed. Some of our employees are working only on site to prepare/distribute the D2GO Meals and then on the other days they are working from home. We are forced to be closed so getting our rides/buildings ready for the season is tough to do when we have to be closed. We will also have to wait for decisions from government.”

Lakemont Park has not set a date to open.

“Our management team is working diligently to ensure we can open in a timely manner once these pandemic restrictions are lifted,” General Manager Jeremy Courtney said.

Andrea Cohen, president of Lakemont Park, said the park originally planned to open earlier this month.

“We had planned to open our batting cages and mini-golf on April 1, so obviously, those plans have been delayed,” she said. “While our office staff has been working remotely, we have had to postpone our long lead-time advertising and reschedule some of our early summer events because we are unsure of our opening. Our maintenance team had to stop working on

March 19. They had about two weeks’ work to complete the teardown of Holiday Lights on the Lake displays and four to six weeks’ work on getting the rides ready for a mid-May opening.”

Further to the west, both Idlewild Park in Ligonier and Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh have pushed back their openings.

“Our highest priority remains the safety of all of our team members and guests, and we’re closely following the guidelines set forth by federal, state and local government officials and health experts,” said a statement on the park’s website. “Because of the shutdown of preseason preparations, we know we won’t be ready to start our season as normally planned on May 16. While it’s too soon to confidently provide an opening date, we remain committed to opening Idlewild and SoakZone this summer.”

Kennywood posted the same statement but with a previously planned opening date of May 2.

DelGrosso’s officials said those who have purchased season passes will be addressed.

“For our 2020 season pass holders, please note that park opening timelines are evolving almost daily,” Crider said. “Please be assured we’ve got you covered. We will be implementing a specific value adjustment that will become available to you once the park has opened. This implementation will be reviewed and revised accordingly as timelines become clearer.”

Lakemont Park doesn’t offer season passes.

Idlewild and Kennywood said they are automatically extending the 2020 Season Pass through the end of June 2021 for those purchased by April 1. “At a later point, passholders will be able to extend their 2021 Season Pass to cover that entire summer, or all the way through October 2021, at a reduced rate,” the statement read.

The hiring process is continuing.

“We have started, and we are still hiring,” Mearkle said. “This is one of the biggest obstacles for us at this time. We use the month of March to visit schools and speak with students about the various opportunities at the park, and that did not happen. We are still allowed to keep hiring, and we are. Applications have always been online so we encourage those who are looking for seasonal work to fill out an application. If the person is selected to move on to the interview process, our team is conducting those interviews either via the phone or on video platforms over the computer.”

The loss of a season would be devastating but local officials remain optimistic.

“I believe the park will open this summer,” Cohen said. “Since we rebranded as a recreation, attraction and special event park and have spent over $2 million on the renovations, we need to consistently build our business and expand our offerings. For the 2020 season, we created a calendar with a variety of activities, including movies, concerts and festivals.”

“Obviously, no season at all would be the worst-case scenario,” Mearkle said. “We hope along with all other entertainment venues and tourism attractions that this is not the case.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.

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