The park was taken over by local authorities in December last year, after its previous owners went into administration in October 2023.

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Since then, Alpamare Waterpark in Scarborough has remained closed to the public.

However, there are fresh hopes that it will be open again in time for people to cool off this summer, with a new operator due to be appointed very soon.

North Yorkshire Council is due to pick someone new to run the park soon, with a meeting set to take place on May 21.

They are expected to select a preferred bidder after a three-week tendering process in which people have put themselves forward as potential new operators.

For now, a new short-term tenant will be chosen for the attraction on a 12-month basis, allowing it be open in time for the summer.

Councillors hope that it will be up and running again by July.

The park cost £14million to open in 2016 and has four water slides, a wave pool, two outdoor pools, one of which is an infinity pool overlooking the sea, and an alpine-themed spa, as well as a bar and cafe.

It labels itself as a “new kind of water experience to the UK” as well as “not just a swimming pool, but a mix of adventure and pampering”.

But the water attraction was left high and dry after previous operator Benchmark Leisure Ltd went into administration.

Since then the council has been carrying out essential maintenance work on the facility to ensure it remained both safe and operational, even though no one has been able to use it for months.

However, people should finally be able to return within the next two or three months.

Deputy council leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, told the BBC: “We will now work with the preferred bidder who has experience of operating facilities of this nature.

“We will continue to work towards opening in time for the summer season as we promised when we took this site on.”

The council will now also begin work to look for a permanent operator for the waterpark, so that it can remain open in the future.

The park is clearly well-loved by the public, with an overall score of 4.3/5 on Google from thousands of reviews.

One wrote: “Slides were awesome, wave pool really good, outside hot pool amazing and the view from the pool was beautiful.”

Another said: “Brilliant place!! Great for the kids, or even adults. Plenty to do with the flumes wave machine, or relax in the outdoor pools under the stars with a cocktail.”

A third added: “Love it. The slides are fast, the staff are great, the food and drink are not too expensive. And the warm pools are heaven.”

Meanwhile, this abandoned UK theme park could be set to reopen after 25 years.

And this UK beach bar from where you can see basking sharks is open again in time for the summer.

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