WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. — The mermaids are again swimming at Weeki Wachee Springs after a six-month hiatus. The park was undergoing renovations, which caused staff to close the theater.

“One of the things we didn’t want to do is really change what this theater has felt like for the past 60 years,” said John Athanason with Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.

The theater may look a little different after undergoing the renovations, but Athanason said guests may not notice some of the biggest changes behind the scenes.

“I think what people are going to notice are refinished benches, of course, new paint, but there’s also new lighting brought up to speed, technologically speaking,” Athanason said.

“This is one of the original, not the original, theater, but it was built in the late 1950s. So we wanted to maintain that historic nostalgic-looking feel but yet at the same time upgrade it just a little bit to give it that new makeover look,” he added.

A new bridge near the entrance to the park is also complete. But, some of the sidewalks leading to the wildlife show and the riverboat cruise are still being worked on, which means those attractions are closed.

But Athanason said officials hope to have them open as well in the next few weeks.

“We wanted to improve the safety of not only our employees but our guests. So as they traverse through the park, in regards to the sidewalks, we wanted to make sure that they were more level, wider perhaps,” he said.

Although the mermaids weren’t performing, they were still hard at work on a new show. It will debut after June 1.