ACADIA NATIONAL PARK — All visitor facilities here are open and operating normally today following resolution of the federal budget shutdown late Wednesday.
The few park service personnel working on Wednesday were notified that afternoon that if the House and Senate passed a budget bill and the President signed it that all employees were to report for work on Thursday.
Rangers began unlocking the motor roads including the Park Loop Road, Ocean Drive, and the Cadillac Mountain Summit Road before daybreak on Thursday.
“I think it was all open and up and running by 8:30 or so,” said Deputy Acadia Superintendent Len Bobinchock.
Gift shops on Cadillac Mountain and at Thunder Hole also reopened on Thursday. The Jordan Pond House was slated to open on Friday with limited hours, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Items include soups and stews, chowder, popovers and dessert.
According to Bobinchock, areas of the park normally closed by this time of year, such as the Pretty Marsh Picnic Area and Lakewood, will remain closed.
Park employees were back at work following Congressional action to end the federal budget shutdown and avoid a debt limit default.
Both the Senate and House passed the necessary legislation late Wednesday and President Obama signed it.
The action ends the 16-day nationwide budget shutdown that forced a skeleton crew of law enforcement rangers to oversee a shuttered Acadia. All motor roads have been padlocked, parking areas blocked with barricades and visitor centers and other facilities closed.