Halifax-district RCMP say they were called to Atlantic Splash Adventure in Lucasville this week about a firearm — the day before the water park announced it was closing for the season.
In a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon, the park formerly known as Atlantic Playland said it was closing for the season:
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Today we have had to make the very difficult decision to close the park for the rest of the season. The reason is related to staffing and not having the people we need in place to run the park safely. In the interest of dispelling rumours and providing peace of mind, we can confirm that there has not been any case of COVID-19 among staff or patrons disclosed to Atlantic Splash Adventure, nor has there been any injury. We truly apologize to all of our guests as we completely understand the inconvenience this has caused. Anyone who has a season pass for this season will automatically be able to use their passes for the 2021 season and anyone who booked a ticket or holds a valid rain pass for the rest of this season will be refunded. Again – we truly apologize for this unforeseen situation and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2021.
Several comments on the post alluded to a significant police presence at the park, and some alluded to there being a firearm on the premises.
In an email to the Halifax Examiner on Friday afternoon, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lisa Croteau confirmed police were there on Wednesday and Thursday.
“On August 5 at 1:15 p.m., Halifax District RCMP attended a business on Lucasville Rd. following a report of a firearm on the property. No firearm was located. The investigation is ongoing,” Croteau wrote.
“On August 6 at 6:55 p.m., Halifax District RCMP was contacted by a citizen to assist with keeping the peace among individuals at a business on Lucasville Rd.”
The Halifax Examiner emailed the park to ask what really happened, whether there was a firearm on the premises at one time, why someone would believe there was, and what happened on Thursday.
Ina Rivard, who said she works for the Ontario-based owners, Brad and Sara Dunkley, responded:
Unfortunately we are not able to comment on the specifics of an incident that occurred this week at Atlantic Splash Adventure. We can however confirm that two senior employees who were critical to the operation of our park are no longer employed by Atlantic Splash Adventure, and as a result we no longer have sufficient staffing to operate the park. Given there is little more than three weeks left in the season we made the difficult decision to close the park early. We appreciate the hard work of our employees and we look forward to welcoming them and our guests back next year.
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In the coming months we’ll be moving out of our 2 bedroom apartment in Clayton Park. When I moved in, it was owned by an individual who owned a couple of fair size buildings including mine (50-70 units each), The building is about 15 years old and could use some updating but overall it is quiet, clean, has underground parking and in suite laundry and is in a good location. If we weren’t buying a house we’d stay there forever except for one thing.
It was recently bough but one of HRM’s large “corporate landlords”. They are currently upgrading it (read: they’re throwing a coat of paint on all common areas). This past year, our rent was $1,125 for our 2 bedroom. Rumour has it they will be looking for another $250 a month from current tenants upon renewal. What we do know is that when we move out they are going to rent it out for $1,525 a month. Quite a return for some paint. Brutal.