Alfred Nichelson is the second person reported to have been found in the pond. On Dec. 30, 2016, a man missed a step down from the gazebo at the pond at Best Western Premier Boulder Falls Inn in Lebanon, stumbled, and fell head-first into the 42-degree water.
The man was rescued by rescue swimmers and Lebanon Fire District firefighters. The man and his wife were guests at the hotel.
The pond area at the Boulder Falls Inn has been open for two years. Roughly two months ago, more fencing and a use-at-your-own risk sign were added.
“That’s been in the works for a while,” said Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital CEO Marty Cahill. “We talked about when we opened up as to the concerns of someone potentially falling into the pond. It happened with a couple of folks ending up in the pond.”
Cahill said all city and state requirements for the pond area were met.
“Everything we did, we were open and within compliance of all the regulations around the pond,” he said. “But it’s always prudent to look at our best practices and make sure that what we’re doing is keeping people safe and making sure that we minimize any type of risk. We realized that putting up a fence would probably be more prudent than trying to protect that view of folks from the (restaurant) patio.”
–Audrey Caro