10.B.8. PRSR 07-14-1999 lF ITEM #1O.B.8. ®
t Y -4 PAGE B4•STAR TRIBUNE SATURDAY,JUNE 19.1999
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Star Tribune photo by Ann Heisenfelt
Lifeguard Katieliesch kept watch Friday over patrons of the Cascade Bay water park in Eagan,which opened at a
cost of$7 million.More than a community pool,it features water slides and interactive toys.
After years of debate,' Eagan resid ents
now can wade in a water wonderland
SttarTribuneStaff Writer . New places to splash
p P
Children of Eagan,your pray- Apple Valley,Eagan and Hastings all have opened water parks this month,a move
ers have been answered. parks officials say,is in response to families'desires for activities they can do
together
Cascade Bay,an 11-acre,$7
million water park,opened Friday ';MinnOappgs b , J 8 Cot 5 m> s -
morning with City Council mem ss St�l g 494
hers and Eagan Boy and Girl E z 9
Scouts taking the first rides down t 35E 5 WJ�NGION CC
i 1NEPIN CQ
water slides. k k '�
The day was overcast,but te s $ ' 1 A 10
more than 700 people had at 77 'd
tended the park by late afternoon. Wes if Rd ss Hastings Family
"I like it because you don't get Aquatic Center
to swim very often if you don't , 'F mm sr 4 Cascade Bay a#
have a pool, said Meghan Par a Family Aquatic
ranto, 11,of Eagan. ' ® Center 10
With towering water slides and W 40th St;
interactive pool toys,water parks d _ x k,Tfw
are becoming some suburbanites' �3 _ Apple Valley Family cgs '•
preferred method of recreation. Aquatic Center
The Eagan project is the third city ,yam 'kil ny Cakol ge Rd s1
water park to open in the Twin .
Cities area in the past eight days. Star Tribune map by Jane Friedmann
The$3 million Apple Valley Fam-
ily Aquatic Center opened June ...are making a big splash with fam- tional community pools.Here is a
11,and the$2.2 million Hastings ilies because there are activities rundown of the latest in water
Family Aquatic Center opened for swimmers of all ages. park technology:
Tue "The little kids can be in the > 40-foot-high body slides
attractions as slides,toys zero-depth pool,the older kids that wind and twist into pools.
and wading pools distinguish can use the slides and the parents > 20-foot-high drop slides
water parks from regular pools. can swim laps in the large pool," that plummet directly into the
The new parks are modeled after said Darbie Johnson,manager of water.
other municipal water parks— the Hastings Family Aquatic Cen- > A"zero-depth"pool for
some of them indoors—such as ter. young children,with an inch of
those in Bloomington,St.Louis In Hastings,building a water water on one end and 3 feet at the
Park and Shoreview.Since 1980, park was as much a community other.
the Shoreview park has averaged activity as attending has become. > Interactive water toys that
350,000 visitors per year,said Hastings hadn't had a city pool allow swimmers to control the
Jerry Haffeman,director of Shore- since 1994.Citizens organized a flow and direction of the water in
view Parks and Recreation. fund-raiser and made$105,000 to parts of the pool.
Ken Vraa,director of Eagan. help pay for the park.The old city Most reviews of Eagan's park
Parks and Recreation,said city pool had only a diving board,said were favorable,but some people
officials had discussed upgrading Marty McNamara,director of had complaints.Laura Olson of
their outdoor pool for years but Hastings Parks and Recreation. Eagan visited Cascade Bay with
hesitated because many public "Now we have a water slide,a her four children.She said many •
pools were losing money.When drop slide and an interactive play of her friends probably won't at-
St.Louis Park opened its water area where kids can control the tend because of the cost—par- E
park in 1997,Vraa said,other cities water flow with different valves... ticularly for young children who
realized that pools with slides and .It's amazing.", can use only the wading pool.All-
attractions could generate enough Like the one in Hastings,newly day admission for children taller
money to pay for upkeep and staff. developed water parks tend to . 42 inches is$4.50;adult ad-
Developers said water parks, have more attractions than trad . mission is$7.