Flooding the market
New water parks compete for recreation dollars

January 14, 2008
By Rowena Vergara Staff Writer

Despite 30-degree temperatures and dreary skies, there is something to look forward to: the water-park season. Warm weather may be months away, but season passes to the region's water parks have been on sale since the holiday season, including tickets to Raging Waves at Route 47 and Galena Road in Yorkville, the area's newest water park.

The 44.5-acre water park opening in June will not only be the largest in the state, it may also be the most expensive. Season tickets for Raging Waves cost $110 for a nonresident and $54 for a Yorkville resident. Tickets to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags Great America cost $74.99 and Magic Waters in Rockford run at $90, making Raging Waves the priciest water park in Illinois.

Scott Melby, co-owner of Raging Waves, said the price is appropriate for families, given today's economy, for all the water park is offering. The park will include five water slides and a wave pool. It's hoping to attract about 3,000 people a day. The price has not seemed to bother families so far. Season ticket sales have doubled from this time last year, Melby said.

"This was a nice blip with people buying them as Christmas presents," Melby said. "It will slow down a bit now, but it will pick up again." The water park was supposed to open last May, but was delayed by uncooperative weather. Tickets for the 1,000 or so customers were refunded at that time. About half the season-ticket sales have come from Yorkville residents, and the other half has come from surrounding towns like Sugar Grove, Plano, Oswego and Aurora, Melby said.

What residents may not have noticed is there will soon be more places to swim and splash in the Fox Valley than in years past. Industry experts say it isn't unlikely for indoor water parks to become more popular, especially in a Midwestern state like Illinois.

New parks flooding in

About 10 miles west of Yorkville, another water park is expected to open this winter. The Hawaiian-themed Waves of Fun is a $10 million, 65,000-square-foot indoor water park coming to Route 34 near Sandy Bluff Road in Sandwich. About 1,000 patrons can pack this facility, which includes a wave pool, lazy river and slides rising nearly 50 feet in the air.

Also included is a surf stream where patrons can surf or ride a boogie board on a wave, the first feature of its kind in the state, co-owner Meredith Avery of Sandwich said. In the St. Charles Park District, two aquatic facilities are proposed for expansion.

Residents are being asked to support a bond referendum Feb. 5 that would allow for a new pool complex at Campton Hills Splash Park, a $10.9 million project. Just three years after opening the splash park, overcrowding has become a major problem. Park District officials say capacity has been met an hour after opening doors. The expansion calls for a zero-depth activity pool; eight lap lanes; a shallow toddler pool; body, tube and drop slides; diving boards and a lazy river.

The Park District is also asking voters to approve a $6.3 million renovation to 70-year-old Pottawatomie Pool. The renovations would expand the smaller pool and larger pools, add interactive features as well as a diving board, and update the restrooms and concessions area.

A booming industry

Water parks have become the latest form of family entertainment, said Aleatha Ezra of Kansas-based World Waterpark Association, which represents the nation's water-park industry. Today's water parks provide activities for children, teenagers and adults, and communities are picking up on that, she said.

Waves of Fun in Sandwich, for example, is expected to include an upstairs bar and hot tubs for adults and an arcade area for teenagers. "The kids could be at the arcade while the parents grab a drink," co-owner Avery said. The interest in water parks shouldn't dry up anytime soon, either.

Ezra says Illinois residents have long been traveling to Wisconsin Dells or Sandusky, Ohio, where theme and water parks have brought in droves of people for years. That trend is the main reason Avery and her husband are building an indoor park. "We've visited Wisconsin Dells many times," she said. "Illinois spends millions in Wisconsin Dells each year, so why couldn't we tap into that money?"

rvergara@scn1.com