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