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Is Wilkes-Barre Going to Get Rid of Ice Chunks in Nesbitt Park?

WILKES-BARRE — A popular park in Wilkes-Barre is shut down all because giant ice chunks have claimed the park as their temporary home. So, will the city g...

WILKES-BARRE -- A popular park in Wilkes-Barre is shut down all because giant ice chunks have claimed the park as their temporary home.

So, will the city get rid of them?

The ice chunks in Nesbitt Park have been around for two weeks now. City officials said they won’t be taking them away. They will let the ice chunks go back to where they came from and melt back into the Susquehanna River.

Even from the passenger seat riding along the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre, the ice chunks in Nesbitt Park are really something to look at.

“It's a beautiful sight to see! I like the ice chunks, but I don't like the cold weather,” John Ford of Nanticoke said.

“They're beautiful, right, but dangerous, too,” A man who only identified himself as Richard to Newswatch 16, said.

That danger is why the city closed the park for the time being.

Nesbitt Park takes up 2,900 feet of shoreline along the Susquehanna River and much of it is covered by giant slabs of ice left behind by last month’s ice jam.

“The park being shut down is a good idea because if it wasn't people would definitely try to walk across (the ice chunks),” Ford said.

The city has no plans to remove the ice chunks themselves. They are following what the Department of Environmental Protection said is the best plan. Just let the chunks melt and have Mother Nature take its course.

“If you've seen them, it's such a large area. We just don't have the time and we don't have the resources,” city administrator Ted Wampole said.

Some of ice chunks were higher than six feet and solid as a rock. It's going to be quite some time before they can melt.

“We're just hoping that the weather cooperates. It gets warm, it melts, and people will be able to enjoy to park again,” Wampole said.

Many who have seen the blocks of ice wonder what will be left once they disappear.

“It looks nice right now but once it melts it's not going to look too nice,” Ford said.

To make sure everyone stays safe, police patrol the area every couple of hours.

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