ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Much discussion has been going on recently about Adventure Bay Water Park, and as Recreation Director Matt Quint tells it, those discussions have been keeping him and his staff busy for a while.
“At the end of every season, the staff and I go through a checklist of all the work needing to be done for the following year, and that was when we'd started discussing getting a third party in to evaluate the water park,” Quint said. “We know there are a lot of issues – there are multiple repairs needed in the pumphouse, there's a broken line going to the baby pool area, and a few other things that need repaired and/or replaced. We knew there would need to be a lot of construction work needed, and we decided it would be best to have an outside third party come in and evaluate what needs done and an estimated timeline on when everything would need either repaired or replaced. Everything started there, and then there were also discussions with Scarlette Diseker and Alicia Hidalgo, and they confirmed the necessity of bringing in a third party to evaluate everything. We've got the company Water's Edge out of Kansas City doing that, and they've worked on the pools in Garden City and Dodge City, so it's a very well-respected company. They've done multiple walk-throughs during the season and out of season to look at the flow of traffic when people were there and check the concrete and a lot of the equipment. After all of that, we've been discussing his recommendations and going from there.”
And some of the issues needing to be tackled, Quint said, are not exactly small.
“A big issue is a big leak we've got by the baby pool area, there's a broken pipe somewhere in that area that needs replaced, and that's something we've been working on for a while,” Quint said. “There's also some gapping in the concrete in some areas that's expanded over time, and there are areas where the concrete of the pool has settled and caused lipping in multiple spots, which has caused some stubbed toes and other minor issues. We've also had a lot of issues with leaking in the pumphouse and the overall design, and there are also some electrical issues that have needed taken care of. There's also some settling in the restrooms, which has caused some gapping, and that's also started to get worse.”
Quint added there are multiple options being looked at.
“As I said at the Sept. 23 Liberal City Commission meeting, one option is to fix up the current water park and make improvements where necessary and replace what has aged out. We’ve talked about the water filters, sandblasting the pools, etc., and we’ve gone over extending the life as much as we can of everything,” Quint said. “There are many places where the paint is chipping, and you need that grip and stability especially on a zero-entry pool, so that’s definitely something we’ll have to take care of. It’s an aging pool, and there’s work that needs to be done to make everything how it’s supposed to be. With that proposal, that would be the company going in and fixing/replacing what’s needed and keeping things going. Another option is to completely replace and overhaul the facility, but that would require a lot of time and energy and money, and we obviously want to be careful with what is done with taxpayer money. We really want to get the community's input with this, and we will have multiple chances for people to let us know how they feel in terms of what they like about the current facility and what features and classes/programs they'd like to see. All of that input will greatly help guide us in the direction the community wants to go – a big priority for us is a lazy river, that’s a request we’ve been getting from many people for the past several years, so that’s something we want to have included. We’d also like to see inclusion of slides for children, splash pads, and other little attractions like that. Something else on my wishlist is a surfing pool, which is a very big attraction at other pools, and no other pool in this region has that. We have ideas for our younger patrons, our older patrons and everyone in between so everyone will have fun. We want the community's involvement because it's their water park and they have as much stake in it as we do.”
With such a big-scale project, Quint said there are pros and cons to consider.
“I want to emphasize, Adventure Bay Water Park will be open next summer – we are going to address the issues we've come across, and everything will be ready to go for everyone to come and have fun,” Quint said. “I would say a big pro is no matter what option we go with, the facility will get needed upgrades, and we're really excited about that because it's what the community members deserve in their water park facility. On the other side, a big factor to consider is the price tag – with the costs of literally everything going up, and with pool facilities not exactly being cheap to begin with, we have to again be smart with what we do with taxpayer money. I love Adventure Bay's current location – I know there have been some suggestions of moving it here or there in town, but I like where we have things now because the facility is in a good, centralized location, and it's great having a pool in a park area that already sees a lot of traffic. I'd love to see some fun additions made – not necessarily a full-on new water park, but I would like to see at least some expansion and upgrades while keeping the overall character. I'd like to see some splash pad features there and some other fun water features. We want to do everything right with a project of this scale.”
Although there has already been a lot of work done, Quint said he and his staff are not exactly slowing down.
“At the most recent Liberal City Commission meeting, the commission approved the hiring of GPRS – Ground Penetrating Radar Systems – to conduct a subsurface investigation of the City Pool and the surrounding deck area,” Quint said. “This analysis will determine whether any voids, subsidence, or structural concerns exist below the concrete or pool shell. GPRS is a nationally recognized leader in ground penetrating radar, concrete scanning, and subsurface mapping, and they use advanced radar equipment that sends signals into the ground or concrete. These signals reflect back and create a detailed image of what lies below the surface. Even before I started, there was a lot of talk about leaking from the pool and no one knowing where that water was going, so hopefully, by bringing GPRS in, we'll figure out what issues there are and come up with a plan to take care of all of that.”
Quint added he hopes to get a lot of community feedback regarding the project.
“We're definitely taking our time with these discussions, we're not rushing into anything, which is great because we truly do want to get as much community input as possible since this is such a big-scale project,” Quint said. “We're excited to hear from the people, and I really like doing this kind of work because it really lets me hear from people. I think people will be really excited to hear what we've been talking about, and once a final decision is made on what will be done, they'll be excited to see how everything comes together. At this point in time, however, we're going to be mostly focusing on getting things ready for next summer and making sure the pool is ready for patrons. And if anyone has any questions or concerns, they are more than welcome to contact either me at the Recreation Center at (620) 417-8150 or Keeley Young at City Hall at (620) 626-2201, and we'll be happy to hear from them. I know everyone is really excited about this, especially since it's such a big project and will be great for the community. We have people from Liberal and out of town who visit Adventure Bay Water Park, and I feel like the improvements we end up making will be extremely beneficial and will bring even more people in.”
