Cypress Gardens reopens to thousands of attendants
People were excited to get back to the swamps, animal exhibits, and natural terrain of Cypress Gardens. After the grand reopening’s ribbon cutting ceremony on April 13, the park attracted over 3,300 visitors in its opening weekend. By April 18, over 7,000 patrons set foot in the park, according to a press release from Berkeley County.
At the ribbon cutting, several members of Berkeley County Council, County Supervisor Johnny Cribb, and Congressman Joe Cunningham were in attendance to usher in Cypress Gardens’ next era.
“When you drove in today and you drove in the main entrance, and you went through the roundabout and you came down that road, and you came into a really nice parking lot—that wasn’t a project done by Sanders Brothers or Banks Construction; that was a project completed by Berkeley County Roads and Bridges,” said Cribb. “And it’s something that we’re really proud of.”
At the ribbon cutting, Director of Cypress Gardens Heather McDowell recalled the impact that 2015’s historic flooding had on the park, causing the indefinite shutdown.
“I don’t know if many of you came out here before we opened, whenever we were opened previously, but, whenever the flood happened, every building had anywhere between a foot to four feet of water in it,” McDowell noted. “And whenever you came in that front gate, and there were the two columns, all of that was completely under water. We had to row a boat in here and water was just everywhere and it was very devastating.”
During the park’s near four-year closure, renovations and general improvements were made to the popular attraction, such as the boat dock and the exhibits.
“We anticipate the park will host more than 10,000 people by the end of the day, Easter Sunday, April 21,” the press release predicted.
Berkeley County residents are allowed free entrance into the park through June 30, with proof of residency.
Volunteers, deputies and inmates from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department, and employees of different county departments pitched in to put Cypress Gardens back together. “They’ve taken a lot of personal pride in this,” Cribb observed. “I could tell that when I came out each day and talked to the folks. It wasn’t just a job and it wasn’t just a place to come to.”
McDowell couldn’t contain the emotion she felt in the minutes leading up to the ribbon cutting. “You will see personal touches of every single employee at Berkeley County government that came out here and worked,” she said, while beginning to choke up. “And, I appreciate it. It’s beautiful.”