Marriah Degan pulls her son, Charlie, in the water July 10 at Lake Grove Park in Auburn. “We love coming here because there is so much to do — and it’s free,” she says. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file

AUBURN — City officials announced Wednesday that swimming at Lake Grove Park at 2 Fair St. is closed until further notice.

The closure comes from a weekly water quality test which failed this past week, city officials said in a Facebook post.

The culprit, officials said, is E. coli. The area has been known in past years to have problems with E. coli, most recently in 2021.

“There are numerous variables that can lead to this including summer heat and rainfall,” the post said.

The park, which abuts the portion of Route 4 that goes over a small portion of Lake Auburn, has been an attraction for several months for its swimming and even longer for its playground and recreation.

Once called the “Auburn outlet,” the area was closed in 2013 due to poor water quality. Environmental mitigations over the past couple years made the outlet safe again for water activity.

City officials said the park itself will remain open with several activities including the playground, the recreation station, kayaks and pedal boats, grills and picnic areas.