The campgrounds at Riverview Park will open to the public on Friday. 

Usually the campgrounds and other park amenities are opened earlier in the year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has closed campgrounds all around the state to prevent the spread of the virus. 

“Our original plan was to open up the weekend of April 20,” said Goeff Hubbard, parks and recreation director. “Due to the COVID-19 restrictions we decided to postpone it.” 

On May 7, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced campgrounds could be opened up to campers on May 8.  

“We weren’t ready with our protocols and procedures to be ready by then,” Hubbard said. “We had a few maintenance things we needed to do. We gave ourselves through this week to get all of those projects done, and we’ll be opening up this Friday.”

A couple of campsites needed electrical and plumbing work done before the park could allow campers on the grounds. 

“We were painting the bathhouses too, and hoping we could open it, but we won’t be opening the bathhouse now,” Hubbard said. “So everybody that does come needs to be self contained with their own water and bathroom facilities inside their campers.”

The playgrounds at Riverview Park will still be closed until further notice. 

“Just the campground itself will be open,” Hubbard said. 

The Frisbee Golf course at Riverview Park is still open, and has been open for a while because there isn’t as much of a risk of people congregating together. 

“There will be no visitors allowed on the campgrounds,” Hubbard said. “Only those that are actually camping can be on the campground.” 

There can be no more than six campers at one site. 

“Trying to limit the number of people at each location,” Hubbard said. 

Campers can get spots on Friday on a first come first serve basis. There is a kiosk by the bathhouses where people can fill out a form and turn their money for staying at the campground. 

Full hook-up sites are $25, electric sites are $20. There will be a campground host that can get campers set up as well. 

“Riverview Park has been one of the main parks in Marshalltown for as long as I can remember,” Hubbard said. 

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Contact Thomas Nelson at tnelson@timesrepublican.com