If you are from out of town, a walk-in Battery Park in Old New Castle is no longer legal as of tonight.
The historic park on the Delaware River is popular with both residents and people who live in surrounding areas.
The city, in a press release, cited an effort to discourage large gatherings of people and encourage social distancing. Police will enforce the ban, a process that would require checking IDs since the rest of the city is open.
Delaware is under a ban for nonessential travel, with out of state residents told to turn around or undergo quarantine for two weeks.
Why access was not banned entirely went unexplained. The park has been the scene of large gatherings, residents noted.
Delaware beach communities have banned access to beaches but did not attempt to limit access to town residents.
“This was an extremely hard decision to make. Please be patient with this closure and with the City Officials at this time as they make every attempt to reduce everyone’s exposure to this rapidly spreading virus,” a post from the Goodwill Fire Co. stated.
The fire company serves the New Castle area and may take some heat over the ban from nonresidents.
New Castle is part of an area along the Delaware River with a large number of cases of coronavirus.
