By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — Under rhetorical assault from the mayor, state environmental officials reassigned a Lincoln Woods lifeguard to World War II Park Tuesday, allowing the facility to reopen in the wake of back-to-back swimming accidents, including a fatality.

Lifeguard Aime Costa, 23, a Lincoln resident, was twirling her whistle from the lifeguard seat overlooking Social Ocean by 1 p.m., and the ‘no swimming’ signs the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) had erected in the wake of an apparent drowning Saturday were taken down.
The reassignment came a day after Mayor Susan D. Menard accused DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan and Gov. Donald Carcieri of unfair treatment by singling out World War II Park as the only state swimming facility without a lifeguard presence.
State officials denied the charges, saying they were grappling with budget cuts and a shortage of trained, certified lifeguards.
Talking to reporters Tuesday, Costa said she had volunteered to be transferred to the facility after she heard that a man had broken his neck in a diving accident at the park, on July 10. She said it wasn’t until Tuesday that a park manager told her he was ready to have her open up World War II Park, an assignment she was more than willing to take on.
“I was very shocked to find out what had happened to World War II Park,” Costa said. “This park means a lot to a lot of people in the city of Woonsocket. I’m just happy we were able to give the kids what they expected, and give the community what it expected.”
DEM spokeswoman Gail Mastrati said Costa will work at the park from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, seven days a week, which includes two days of overtime coverage during her normal days off on weekends.
She said the high profile publicity about the possible closing of the park due to a shortage of lifeguards had also drawn two new applicants for seasonal lifeguard positions. Those two applicants have their CPR training, but not their state certification.
She said DEM would administer the necessary qualifying tests within a couple of days and assign the new workers to World War II Park to back up Costa.
A day earlier, Sullivan had indicated in the press that he was going to make a decision on whether to drain the pond, as some city officials had suggested, if DEM could not provide lifeguards to staff the man-made pond known locally as Social Ocean.
“We were working diligently to recruit lifeguards to be assigned there, but these people came forward within the last day,” said Mastrati. “It’s good news for everyone.”
Alan Jennings, 13, certainly agreed. He was the first child to swim in Social Ocean after Costa’s arrival, paddling his way to the edge of a newly deployed line of floating buoys to mark off prohibited swimming areas.
He and his seven-year-old sister were upset when the park closed after a man drowned at Social Ocean, Jennings said.
“I was like, mad, and my sister started to cry,” said Jennings. “At home they don’t allow hoses or pools.”
One of the first visitors to the newly reopened park was Menard, whose campaign to bring a lifeguard to the park culminated in a tersely worded tirade aimed at Sullivan and Gov. Carcieri on Monday.
“I’m glad to see it’s finally opened,” Menard said. “I’m sure the residents and children of the city will be ecstatic about it.”
But Menard made no apologies her earlier comments accusing the officials of discrimination in denying a lifeguard to staff World War II Park. She said the 12-acre facility is like every other state beach or lake, and she was hard-pressed to find another where lifeguards had been completely axed as a result of state budget cuts.
The park opened without an operating budget shortly before the July 4th weekend, under pressure from local officials who objected to the prospective closure of the state facility. DEM said it would try to find lifeguards, while state lawmakers pledged to make up any payroll deficits the agency incurred at the end of the year. While lifeguards failed to materialize, Menard renewed her campaign for DEM to supply them after the July 10 diving accident that left Brett Roy, 29, paralyzed and in a coma.
Nine days later, Sydney Jones, 47, of Providence, died after an apparent drowning in Social Ocean. While the cause of death remains unconfirmed pending further tests, the fatality prompted Menard to step up her criticism of the state officials earlier this week. After a round of talks late Monday, the fate of the park seemed to be in limbo, however, without any lifeguards on the horizon.
“I don’t know what happened here,” Menard said. “We had excuses after excuses of why they couldn’t do it. Sometimes it takes the squeaky wheel to get things done and if that’s what it took, that’s what it took.”
Menard said the city would still live up to its end of the bargain to beef up police patrols of the park in return for the state coming through with a lifeguard.
Angel Benzant of Village Plaza didn’t seem to care about all the controversy surrounding the park as he sat in a lounge chair overlooking Social Ocean with his two children, relaxing under a shade tree.
“If feel happy,” said Benzant. “This is the only place we got close to home. This is a nice place, where they can play in the sand, in the water, with good people. Unfortunately, there was a situation happened the last few days, but I’m glad it’s open.”