Locals express concerns with Serengeti Springs

Abigail Troth Printz Executive Editor

while the city of Hattiesburg collectively expressed their excitement for the Hattiesburg Zoo’s Serengeti Springs water park that is scheduled to open this summer, some residents and business owners have conveyed their concern with the traffic and parking situation that comes with the fun.

The future site of the water park rests on Hardy Street, where construction is currently taking place. The water park will be a part of the zoo’s expansion and will replace the Cameron Field baseball park. Kamper Park, where the zoo is located, is part of a neighborhood and businesses area, where some Hattiesburg locals are worried about the effects that this new attraction will have on their homes and businesses.

Eric Davis is a Kamper Park resident who lives near the attraction site. Davis has two young children, and is worried that patrons of the water park will not drive safely in the area.

“I have little ones I want to walk with, I want to run with them, I want to ride bikes and I can’t really do that if there’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people not obeying traffic [laws],” Davis said. “I think it’s one of those things where you put something permanent like a roundabout, very similar [to] what they have on Hardy Street.”

Adriana Morin is the owner of the Electric Lounge Hair Salon, which is across from the construction of the water park. She believes that this might be a positive for some businesses, but fears it will negatively impact her business.

“I just want to make it clear I am pro waterpark in Hattiesburg, just not the location it's in,” Morin said. “I just think traffic is going to be the main issue. It’s directly [across from] my salon and the businesses beside me are directly across from where the giraffes are.”

She loves working close to the zoo, but fears added traffic and illegal parkers will keep her customers from getting to her shop.

“I get to see giraffes every day, which is lovely,” Morin said. “[But] I think Hardy Street is not wide enough to sustain a good flow of traffic in that area. [What] might be a problem is people parking in the parking lot reserved for our

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