Water park eyes reopening after chlorine testing

Patrons enjoying the CoCo Key water park last year. The park was ordered closed on March 5 and hopes to reopen Saturday. (Lisa Poole for the Boston Globe)

The CoCo Key Water Resort at the Sheraton Ferncroft Hotel hopes to reopen as early as Saturday after it improves chlorine testing, water quality, and staffing levels ordered by state and local health officials.

The indoor water park was ordered closed on March 5 after local residents, including school and Scout troops, reported chemical burns, skin rashes, and other irritations after swimming in the resort's three pools and hot tub.

"My kids still aren't OK," Kristen Baker of Litchfield, N.H., said on Monday. She said her two children suffered chemical burns last month. "One day they feel fine, and the next day, the burning comes back."

Before it is allowed to reopen, CoCo Key must comply with a new set of recommendations approved by the Middleton Board of Health.

The resort must use advanced chlorine testing equipment, report readings weekly to local health officials, and assign at least two staff members to test the water in the pools and hot tub, which combined hold an estimated 190,000 gallons of water, officials said.

"They need to get within chemical standards," said Derek Fullerton, public health director in Middleton. "They won't be allowed to open until then."

On March 21, CoCo Key must also submit to the health board an independent analysis of its operations.

Officials as the popular water park, with pools such as the Coconut Grove Adventure River, said they will comply with all standards and have conducted additional maintenance and improvements on the 65,000-square-foot facility.

"We have delivered all required items to the local Board of Health," said Ron Sevart, a vice president at CoCo Key. "We decided to move up this maintenance to this time period, instead of two weeks from now when it was originally scheduled."

New padding has been installed on Parrot's Perch, a children's play structure. Pools and walls have been painted and the facility thoroughly cleaned, officials said.

CoCo Key, estimated to cost $20 million to build, opened last May at the Sheraton Ferncroft Hotel, located on the Danvers-Middleton town line.

The Key-West-themed park is entirely in Middleton, giving oversight to that town's Board of Health. The board held a special meeting on March 6 to discuss public health concerns at the facility, one of eight operated nationally by Sage Hospitality Resources, based in Arlington Heights, Ill.

On March 5, health inspectors found levels of residual chlorine were 1.4, 1.8, and 3 parts per million, which far exceed the state standard of 0.2 parts per million. The facility also did not have the proper chlorine testing equipment or regularly record levels in a logbook, as required by state law. The hot tub also did not have a thermometer to measure the temperature, officials said.

At the special meeting, Sevart apologized to local officials and patrons. He cited inexperience in the rapidly growing indoor water park industry.

Unlike outdoor water parks, which rely on wind and sun to burn off chlorine, indoor water parks must rely on ventilation systems to reduce it, while still keeping the facility heated to 84 degrees. "It's a new dynamic we're learning to deal with," he added.

The resort plans to measure chlorine levels 24 times per day, compared with the six times required by state law, Sevart said, and pool staff will be required to write down chlorine levels in a logbook. The resort was cited on Feb. 11, prior to the widespread reports of sickness, for failing to record chlorine levels. The resort paid a $50 fine, said Fullerton.

Sevart declined to estimate CoCo Key's economic losses. The resort has offered refunds to customers whose bookings were canceled due to the shutdown. At least one local school group is rethinking its plans to hold a fund-raiser at CoCo Key in May.

"We're leaving it open," said Sharlene Barnes, copresident of the PTO at Nathaniel Bowditch School in Salem. "We will want some kind of confirmation that things have been repaired before we bring our kids there."

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.