Holdsworth Park Closing to the Public on Camp Days

At its meeting on July 19, 2022, the City Council voted to close Holdsworth Park (better known as the Springvale Rec) to the public between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays through August 5. The closure was requested by Parks and Recreation Director Brady Lloyd.

Mr. Lloyd told the Council he was asking for the closure as a preventive measure to keep kids in the Rec Department’s summer camp program safe. He said it would make it easier for camp staff, including lifeguards, to keep an eye on the children who are enrolled in the program. “We would rather be proactive than reactive,” he said. There have been “a couple of scares” including one issue when there was a man passed out on the beach area and Sanford Police had to be called, he added.

On the days in question, there will be between 120 and 160 campers at the park, some as young as four years old. There is a ratio of 1:8 staff to campers.

He initially said he wouldn’t mind if the public used the park while camp was going on, as long as they were in separate spaces. Councilor Jonathan Martell advocating for closing only the beach area to the public. However, Deputy Police Chief Eric Small told the Council the closure would be much easier for the SPD to enforce if it applied to the entire park.

City Manager Steve Buck weighed in to point out that the playgrounds at Sanford schools are available for the public to use whenever schools are closed, but that the public is not allowed to use them, and doesn’t expect to, when school is in session. He said closing the park while camp is going on would be equitable with the School Department’s policy.

Councilor Mike Termath said he is all for public safety but not all members of the public have air conditioning and the swimming area at the park is the only one in town.

Springvale resident Chris Farwell pointed out that when the Rec Department takes the kids on field trips, the facilities they go to don’t close to the general public. “The potential for danger” exists everywhere, he said.

The Council ultimately voted 5-2 to approve closing the park on camp days, with Councilors Martell and Termath in opposition. The dates of the closures are July 20, 22, 27, 29; and August 3 and 5.