New Sandy Beach Water Park manager said the first thing he had to get rid of was the frogs

William Holmes remembers the first few days after he arrived to work at Sandy Beach Water Park at Lake Tobesofkee.

“To get everything up and running, we had to first get rid of all of the frogs,” said Holmes, the park’s new manager. “The pools were drained, cleaned from the ground up, the filtration system was re-cleaned, and we also got new sand.”

The water park has been opened for three summers, but after some financial issues at the Lake Tobesofkee facility, Jeff Ellis Management was brought in on May 1.

The company manages pools and provides aquatic safety services in several states.

“This poor water park was neglected,” Holmes said. “We added in new features, new paint, bathrooms were completely overhauled and the concession stand is completely new.”

Almost all of the jets in the “lazy pool” were replaced as well.

Opening day was May 26. The park wasn’t full, but Holmes has plans to bring out crowds this summer season.

“So far, weekends are packed,” he said. “Weekdays have been slightly slower.”

He said Wednesdays have been their slowest day, but last week crowds came on that day, too.

“We are getting more and more people every day.”

When the management company employees first started working, they began recruiting and advertising.

The park has signs going up at the AmStar movie theater on Zebulon Road and Chick-fil-A that are about 6 feet tall. Holmes said Macon residents will be able to find brochures and promotions everywhere, from grocery stores to Groupon.

There is also an Independence Day promotion pending.

The 100,000-gallon wave pool is the park’s newest addition.

“There should be new additions coming in year by year,” Holmes said.

For now, there are no future plans of park additions, but Holmes said if there’s a big need or want for extra facilities, they’ll bring it.

There will also be another water park in Middle Georgia. Rigby’s Water World is currently being built in Warner Robins.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "New Sandy Beach Water Park manager said the first thing he had to get rid of was the frogs."