Las Cascadas Water Park in Aguadilla reopens after 5 years
Las Cascadas Water Park in Aguadilla will reopen May 14 following a $1.2 million investment to restore the facility that remained closed for more than five years.
The municipality expects the facility to generate some $3 million annually from ticket sales, parking and special events that will take place during the year, officials said.
The reopening will create more than 150 direct and indirect jobs, at the facility once considered an iconic entertainment center for the town in the 1990s, Mayor Julio Roldán said.
The water park’s restoration and reconstruction works were carried out by municipal work brigades, and it took about a year to recondition the facility, he said.
Meanwhile, Wilfred Torres, chairman of the Board of Empresas Municipales Ciudad de Encantos, said during the personnel recruitment process, lifeguards, first aid personnel, ticket office, administrative, recreational and park maintenance personnel were hired, totaling over 150 new jobs.
“The restoration work was titanic, and the facilities had been abandoned since the passage of hurricanes Irma and María,” he said.
“The deteriorating physical plant and machinery of most of the water attractions was out of use. Combined Federal Emergency Management Agency and municipal funds amounting to about $1.2 million were used to put bring the facilities back,” Torres said.
For now, the water park will have 13 of its 16 original attractions and they have added and transformed five entertainment areas for children. Meanwhile, two of the food stands have already been leased to local entrepreneur Edwin Asencio who will manage Pio Chicken and Mamamia, and Eric Lorenzo, who will open the Aguadilla Rain Forest Ice Cream shop.
