Ranger Michael Kevin MacCoy Jr., patrols the edges of the pond at World War II Memorial State Park in Woonsocket.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

WOONSOCKET

Nobody went in the water at first.

The people sitting on the outskirts of the pond at World War II Memorial State Park just looked on as 23-year-old Amie Costa prepared for her first day as a lifeguard at Social Ocean. Residents hadn’t seen a lifeguard at the state-run park all summer because of cutbacks. Nobody was expecting to swim after a man drowned in the pond over the weekend.

The Department of Environmental Management opened the pond yesterday at noon with a DEM lifeguard. The pond, known as Social Ocean, had been closed since Saturday when 47-year-old Sydney Jones, of Providence, drowned while swimming with his children. Nine days earlier, Woonsocket resident Brett Roy suffered severe neck and head injuries after diving headfirst into shallow water at the pond.

Woonsocket Mayor Susan Menard called the DEM’s decision to pull lifeguards from the park discriminatory.

DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan said yesterday that his agency had not been able to find lifeguards willing to work in Woonsocket “even though we offered to pay some of the highest lifeguard rates anywhere in the state.”

Now the pond will be open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Costa, who has worked as a lifeguard for seven years at Lincoln Woods State Park, said she agreed to work in Woonsocket after her bosses had asked if she was willing to work there. “I had heard what happened there,” she said. “I was very shocked to hear about it. I’m sorry for the families of the two people.”

Sullivan said that Costa would work seven days, if necessary, at the Woonsocket park. Because she is the only lifeguard on duty, she will guard a smaller area, according to Robert Paquette, chief of the Division of Parks and Recreation for the DEM.

The DEM cordoned off half of the swimming area with buoys so that Costa has a 100-yard area to watch over with water that runs up to 4½ feet deep. Paquette said two rangers would also be present at the park: one to help maintain the park, the other to help Costa keep swimmers in the safe areas. Two people have contacted the DEM about working as lifeguards at the park after they saw an advertisement on its Web site, DEM spokeswoman Gail Mastrati said.

“It’s a beautiful park,” Paquette said. “It serves its purpose for the urban community.”

Alan Jennings, 13, who will be entering Woonsocket High School in the fall, was the first person to jump into the water. Costa, in her red swimsuit and whistle, immediately climbed up to the lifeguard chair. Jennings swam back and forth the length of the buoys.

“I saw the lifeguard and people here, so I came for a swim,” he said later. As media outlets gathered at the park, a white sedan pulled into the parking lot and Mayor Susan Menard got out and walked over to reporters.

“I’m glad to see it’s fully open. We have a lifeguard. I’m sure residents and citizens will be ecstatic,” she said.

Menard explained that the money to keep the park running was taken out of the state budget and that the DEM planned to close the park entirely until officials from the city complained.

“Sometimes the squeaky wheels. … People from Woonsocket have as much right as people from East Greenwich and Barrington. You didn’t see them close swimming in South County or East Bay. We were the only ones. Maybe they thought they could get away with it,” Menard said.

The lifeguard should have been at the park, she said. “We have always had lifeguards here. It only costs $150,000 to run the park. I can’t imagine what it costs to run Lincoln Woods.” She said she did not know if having lifeguards at the park would have prevented the tragic accidents.

Menard said that she agreed with the DEM to have the Woonsocket Police patrol the park regularly.

— With reports from Brandie M. Jefferson

tpina@projo.com