Kinsmen slides almost ready for reopening

“We don’t want to rush the final product,” said Boulet. “It’s been a long time coming over the past year to get to this point, and we want to make sure that the final product is something that we are going to be proud of and we’re only a few days away from that being the case.”

At 11 a.m. on Friday, the Kinsmen Club of Prince Albert will be hosting a radiothon in the parking lot raising money needed to finish the upgrades.

“We’re very excited about that opportunity and the partnership that continues with the Kinsmen Club,” he said. “They’re going to be the ones finishing off the campaign and really, they’re the ones that started the whole project back in 1986 when they raised over a million dollars for the complex that we have today.”

The upgrades include two major components. First, there were 73 steel structural supports known as saddles (u-shaped supports underneath the slides), which keep the fiberglass component of the slide stable and in place. All of those needed to be replaced, which is why the entire structure basically had to be deconstructed. Crews started that process in March and reconstructed it in shop so they didn’t have to deal with bad weather.

The second part was the restoration of the fiberglass component, which Boulet said was the costly part. They are finishing off painting the slides this week.

According to Boulet, they will reveal how much money is still needed when they kick off the radiothon Friday morning.

Although the project was costly, Boulet said this ensures it has been made to last.

“We didn’t just do a minor repair to them so that it only would last a couple years,” said Boulet. “A bit of the sacrifice of not having them open last year allowed us to get the funds together to have now a long-term fix.”

Secondly, he said the slides won’t be left to deteriorate this time around.

“The investment that’s done right now is going to put us in a long-term state but also the introduction and the implementation of an improvement fund that was just approved,” he said.

“We have added a surcharge to the visits at the Kinsmen Water Park moving forward, beginning with the 2015 season, which is going to allow us to set aside money and schedule projects moving forward- whether it’s waterslides-related or other components of the park- in a more proactive way and that’s going to relate back to the long term sustainability of the park.”

Along with this fund, the City is planning on making a list of priorities for improvements when it comes to the park, starting with an audit of equipment.

“We’re completing that right now as we speak and we will be presenting that as part of the budget process so that we can make commitments as to where the improvement fund will go and have those approvals through city council,” said Boulet.

A special grand opening deal of half-price admission will be in place from June 5 to 7, June 13 to 14, and for the opening week for the slides from June 19 to 21.

“We’re very gracious that city council was supportive of that request and we think it’s going to allow us to invite people to the park, make it a little more accessible for the opening and get people out to enjoy the park again at full capacity,” said Boulet.

Visitors will notice the colour of the slides has had a makeover.

“Although they had served us well for the 28 years, I think it was time for a face lift. We were going through a major restoration and I think it was important that we revisited the colours.”

Boulet said the two main slides were painted green and yellow to represent Prince Albert’s city colours, while the river slide was painted dark blue because of its name.

“That allows us to present a little more of a fun structure, when you arrive it’s not the same colour,” he said. “It was time to go with a change and we thought this was the best time to do so.”

In 2014, there was $70,000 approved for the water park for things other than the slides, Boulet added. Because of this, they were able to move forward with sandblasting and painting of the main pool and repairs to it, as well as repairs and replacement of some of the equipment.

According to Boulet, the Save our Slides campaign has contributed about $300,000 to the waterslides and $110,000 to other parts of the water park.

asoloducha@panow.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

Kinsmen slides almost ready for reopening

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