Latimer & County Team Provide Playland Update

We told you back on Thursday, February 25th that Rye guy and county boss George Latimer had announced the county’s intention to open Rye Playland this coming season, after it was closed all 2020 due to COVID. Last week at the Rye city council meeting, Latimer and his county folks zoomed in and delivered a 40 minute update on expected reopening plans.

Here are some of the take-aways:

• Playland, according to State rules, can open at 33% capacity or 3,300 patrons max. The park will collect contact information for all attendees for contact tracing purposes, tickets will be sold in advance and there will be elaborate cleaning procedures.
• Opening day will be Saturday, June 6th and the last day of the season will be Labor Day, Monday, September 6th. The park will be open Wednesday to Sunday as well as the addition of Monday, July 5th and Monday, September 6th due to those two holiday weekends.
• The park will support two distinct day sessions 12pm – 4pm and 5pm to 9pm. Entry fees will be $20/rider and $10/spectator.
• Latimer said there are no plans for fireworks. Depending on COVID, they will consider something at the end of the season on Labor Day weekend.
• Due to the capacity limit, they will need to work with Rye PD and local officials on how to control crowds coming into the park and the surrounding neighborhoods.
• A detailed overview of the Playland pool renovation project was provided by Hugh J. Greechan, P.E., Commissioner of the Department of Public Works and Transportation (and a Rye resident). The project will keep the pool closed this season, with an expected on time opening in 2022 for the pool and 2023 for the adjacent parking area (for those concerned about the single tree that stands in the middle of this parking lot, the county plans to keep this tree).
• On the Ice Casino, the plan is to open this facility in the fall after a new more COVID friendly HVAC filtration system has been installed. Although the rink will be open for the 21-22 season, the facility needs major work. “To fix it properly we may have to close the place,” said Latimer. “There were years and dollars worth of neglect at Playland.
• The county started to give some overview of the Standard Amusements deal, but running short on time said they would return for additional updates and a deeper dive on this component of Playland’s future.

Want to know more? Watch the Playland discussion: