SHELBYVILLE - A lack of rain and low water levels will keep sun seekers off the beaches at Lake Shelbyville this weekend according to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Right now we don't have a date for the beaches to open," said park ranger Gary Shea on Thursday. "But, it's not going to happen this weekend unless we get a lot of rain - in the next hour."

Lake Shelbyville is currently about three-and-a-half feet below normal summer levels. Swimming beaches, which have sand bottoms and are marked by buoys, need three feet of water to open.

"Unfortunately, when you get out to the three-foot level right now you're way beyond the sand and out of the safe swimming area," Shea said.

The closed beaches won't keep boaters from enjoying the lake but they will have to be more careful.

"We're getting more reports of boats getting stuck on the mud flats," Shea said. "They should be very careful, especially near the shores."

Marinas are expecting to busy the entire three-day weekend.

"Right now we're pretty well booked," said Marie Greaser of Findlay Marina.

At Gregory's Resort in Shelbyville, Charlene Ditto said visitors would miss the beaches.

"I think people will be extremely disappointed that the beaches are closed," she said. "Fortunately, most of the people coming to our resort have their own boats so they are still able to get out on the lake. We've been fully booked for over a month."

Even with the beaches closed, day-trippers and others should find plenty of other things to do. Mark Shanks of Monical's Pizza in Shelbyville, said Memorial Day weekend is traditionally very busy at Lake Shelbyville.

"There are lots of things going on," he said. "We always have a good Memorial Day weekend and I would expect it will be that way again this year."

Swimmers can visit Shelbyville's Family Aquatic Center, which opens for the season on Saturday. The pool features waterslides and children's areas.

The six beaches on Lake Shelbyville didn't open as scheduled on May 19 because lake levels were low. Shea said the Corps would explore expanding the swimming beach area if the water doesn't rise, but since the condition of the lake bottom beyond the beach areas is largely unknown, it would be a slow and cautious process.

"Our main concern here is public safety," Shea said.

Sharon Mosley can be reached at sharonhrnews@yahoo.com.