Summit Metro Parks has suspended swimming at Munroe Falls and Silver Creek lakes for this summer. In a statement, the Metro Parks cited staffing challenges as the reason for the closures, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Walton says the Metro Parks have been dealing with a shortage of lifeguard staff for several years, which COVID-19 made insurmountable.
鈥淪ince we were closed last year due to COVID-19, we relied really heavily on returning staff, and we unfortunately don鈥檛 have any returning staff this year, so it really just made an ongoing challenge even worse,鈥� Walton said.
Walton emphasizes the lakes will be open to the public in other ways, including dog swimming days each Thursday, lessons for stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking, as well as fishing.
The Metro Parks plan to get and re-evaluate the best use for both lakes by the end of the summer.
