Brad Williams
“The city is ready to reopen the man-made lake, located on the backside of Lake Park, after it was closed down fifteen years ago due to cost. Seymour Mayor Judy Schuette said the city was losing about $20,000 a year in operating the location, and that included upkeep and lifeguard wages.
“It just got to be just to costly, and then it was really hard to get lifeguards anymore.”
Schuette said once the school district opened an indoor pool, people turned to that as a substitute, but many left the city to go swim.
“People realized what they had, and didn’t appreciate it at the time we closed it. Our people are going to Black Creek and Shiocton to their man-made lakes.”
Schuette said the city is starting the process of getting the lake opened again by killing the weeds and cleaning up the area, but the City Council is still going to have to pass a resolution to open the lake.
Once it does re-open, Mayor Schuette said it will cost around $13,000-$15,000 to open and about $5,000-$7,000 to maintain. It will also be a “swim at your own risk location, which is an option that was not available when they closed 15 years ago.
“There wasn’t anybody around us doing that at that time, and we had two drownings at the lake, so it was not the best option.”
Mayor Schuette said if the lake was put on the budget, it would be the low man on the list of projects. She added that there will always be a reason not to do it, but with younger families in the city, it’s time to bite the bullet on this one.