By Thia James

Deteriorating Kinsmen Water Park slides had potential to injure

May 23, 2014 | 7:02 AM

The aging water slides at the Kinsmen Water Park had the potential to injure users, a revelation that led to them being made unavailable for the season.

On Tuesday, city officials announced the water park’s four main slides at the north end will not open to the public this season. The small tot slide, located at the tot pool, will be available. The remainder of the park, including the pools, is set to open June 6.

An inspection conducted on the large slides, the two 300-foot slides, the river slide and the junior slide by Prakash Consulting Ltd. showed that the fibres in the fibreglass structure are exposed in different areas throughout the slides.

Community services director Jody Boulet said officials were concerned that if park users were allowed on the slides, the exposed fibres could cause injuries.

“Now, with the steel support portion of the slide structure, that’s what holds up the entire structure, and with that, when we have some of the joints compromised and things to that effect, we have to be in a position with our structural engineer to have that ability to sign off with comfort that we feel it’s going to hold the structure safely, and we’re not in that position right now.”

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This year, officials ended up making two decisions – one related to safety, the other about whether to restore the current structure or to tear the slides down and rebuild them.

“It’s a more cost-effective way to restore the current structure, versus tear the whole current structure down and then totally rebuild a different water slide structure.”

He noted that the slides are exposed to the elements because it is in an outdoor park and they get more stress on them because of the conditions.

The restoration of the water slides will cost $260,000, of which, the city would fund $60,000. City officials are currently seeking to partner with an organization or business in the community, which would contribute the remaining $200,000. This would extend the life of the slides.

Boulet said that there has been an indication leading up to this season that this point was going to come.

“Now we have to come up with a way to fund it as city council has made it known to administration and to the public that they don’t want to be the sole funder of the project.”

The repair cost was included in the department’s budget, and the item was debated and decided during strategic planning sessions – meetings which are not open to the public.

At these meetings, council determined that it would be willing to support funding for the steel support structure ($60,000), but directed administration to work with “community partners” to come up with the $200,000 for the fibreglass slides, according to Boulet.

In past years, the water park’s season was prematurely cut short.

In 2013, concerns about the public’s exposure to a gastrointestinal-illness causing parasite led to the park being shutting down early, along with the Frank J. Dunn swimming pool. In 2012, pump issues on the slides were one of the factors that led to the park’s early shutdown for the season. 

Boulet said the past closures aren’t related to what’s led to the slides’ closures this season.

“Mainly, closures to the park previously have been related to equipment failures and things to that effect, so that’s certainly something we have to continue to maintain.”
The structure has been under review for many years, he said.

“There has been a lot of maintenance put into keeping the water slides over the 28-year history, you know, in operation and safe for the public to use, it just simply got to the point this year where we can’t Band-Aid it any further, we have to put a full restoration effort into the structure.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames