SEVIERVILLE â Officials at Wilderness Resorts at the Smokies said they are constantly reassessing policies and will continue to do so after intoxicated guests at Soaky Mountain Waterpark got into two violent altercations over the past few weeks, including one that turned deadly.
âThe safety of our staff and guests is always our top priority,â Manager Dave Andrews said. âBecause of this, we are continually reviewing all of our operational policies and making adjustments to them to ensure that everyone enjoys Soaky in a responsible manner.â
Saturday a Knoxville woman fatally shot a Loudon woman during an altercation in the parking lot, according to authorities.
SEVIERVILLE
A grand opening one year in the making took place at Soaky Mountain Waterpark on Friday, which also included $6,000 in donations to local charities.
The attraction was open in 2020 with reduced hours and limited capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has opened for this season without those restrictions in place.
âWe had the 2020 season, but it wasnât what we thought it would be obviously because of the pandemic and we reduced our capacity and we didnât open on time. We were three weeks later than we had planned, but that was because of a lot of the stuff going on,â said Joe Eck, chief operating officer of Wilderness Resort and Waterparks.
Smokies Soaky Mountain Waterpark To Celebrate Grand Opening June 4 Friday, May 28, 2021
Soaky Mountain Waterpark officials, together with state and local tourism officials, will gather on June 4 at 9 a.m. to celebrate the official grand opening of the 50-acre waterpark, 175 Gists Creek Road in Sevierville.
According to Dave Andrews, general manager of Soaky Mountain Waterpark, “We are so thrilled to be finally celebrating our grand opening with our fellow tourism industry partners on June 4.
“2020 was truly a challenging year for us. First, we had to get our construction completed while the country was shut down due to the pandemic and then we were only able to be at reduced capacity levels as a safety precaution due to COVID-19. But we made it and now it is time to celebrate.
ERICA DYNES
Geraldine SoriVera beamed with excitement as she received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile clinic April 14 at Glacier Canyon Conference Center at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
SSM Health Pharmacist Jessica Benjamin delivers vials of the Moderna vaccine to tables for nurses to vaccinate participants at a mobile clinic April 14 at Glacier Canyon Conference Center at Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The clinic was held for Dells area employees in the tourism industry. ERICA DYNES/Dells Events
For SoriVera, a J-1 student from Ecuador working in the Dells, it meant a lot to become inoculated to feel safe around family, friends and other people when working as a ride attendant at Mt. Olympus.