Chester County Commissioners today announced they are extending the essential-services-only operation for county government through May 15, but plan to open county-owned parks beginning next week.
"The continuation of essential services-only helps to protect the health and safety of Chester County's 2,400 full and part-time employees, as well as anyone from the public," said Chester County Commissioners' Chair Marian Moskowitz in a press release.
However, the seven county-owned parks will start re-opening beginning Wednesday, May 6 through Tuesday, May 12. Black Rock Sanctuary, Wolf's Hollow and Exton Parks will re-open next Wednesday, but Hibernia Park, Nottingham County Park, Springton Manor Farm and Warwick Park will re-open a week later on, May 12, the press release said.
The decision to re-open the parks follows the announcement by Gov. Tom Wolf to re-open limited outdoor recreational activities. While the three county-owned trails – Chester Valley Trail, Struble Trail and Schuylkill River Trail – have remained open during the pandemic, county officials have stressed the immense importance of maintaining social distancing and wearing masks, while on the trails.
Social distancing and wearing masks will still be stressed once the parks re-open.
"The weather is improving, and visits to all of our parks are great for our physical and mental wellbeing," said Commissioner Josh Maxwell. "But we cannot stress enough the need to continue adhering to the recommendations to stop the spread of the coronavirus – from keeping six feet apart and wearing masks, to the frequent use of hand sanitizer before, during and after visiting our parks and trails."
Not everything park-related will re-open that soon, however. All Chester County parks permits, pavilion rentals, volunteer programs and Ranger programs remain canceled for May and June, and as they re-open, the parks will have limited amenity access. Parks officials also ask that, if the parking lots are full, please find another location for recreation where there are fewer people.
Related to the governor's plan to re-open businesses throughout the commonwealth, the county commissioners said in the release that they are formulating plans to get Chester County back to work as the impact of COVOD-19 lessens.
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