Question for those in Medicine Hat...

[dionfan]

...have the Riverside Waterslides re-opened this year, or are they closed for good? I noticed they were shut down last year but I'm not sure if it was just a temporary thing or if it's permanent.

[Fire]

My parents are from Medicine Hat and I know the waterslides are still closed. It will probably need some solid renovations to make it viable, but I don't think anyone is stepping up to do that.

[Kjesse]

Its for sale, real cheap. (Someone purporting to be the owner offered to sell it to my brother a few weeks back.)

[Buff]

It is allegedly in need of many repairs and upgrades and the current owner either couldn't afford to, or didn't want to put the money into it.

I haven't been there in 8 years (used to make an annual day trip to The Hat from Lethbridge). Now, for my nephew's birthday, we go to the wave pool in The Hat.

[BlackArcher101]

Why do water slides and go kart tracks never last in Alberta? People always seem to lose interest in them then they close.

[Jude]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Why do water slides and go kart tracks never last in Alberta? People always seem to lose interest in them then they close.

Probably because of the weather, if they only had a snowmobile equivalent of the go-kart...

[psicodude]

I am sorry to hear that it's closed. I worked there for a summer when I was 17. 3 months of staring at chicks in bathing suits and they paid me for it.....good times.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Jude

Probably because of the weather, if they only had a snowmobile equivalent of the go-kart...

They do... it's called the snowmobile!

[Buff]

There is a guide that was released with the Lethbridge Herald about 101 things to do in Southern Alberta. Going to the Riverside Waterslides in Medicine Hat was one of those things. That guide came with the newspaper just this past week. Either the Lethbridge Herald is out of the loop (shocking!) or they've reopened. I'll go with the former because my father-in-law said today that they were tearing the place down not too long ago.

[dionfan]

Originally Posted by Buff

There is a guide that was released with the Lethbridge Herald about 101 things to do in Southern Alberta. Going to the Riverside Waterslides in Medicine Hat was one of those things. That guide came with the newspaper just this past week. Either the Lethbridge Herald is out of the loop (shocking!) or they've reopened. I'll go with the former because my father-in-law said today that they were tearing the place down not too long ago.

Yeah, I read that too, that's why I asked the question in the first place. Considering it was the Herald, I didn't hold much stock in it but i figured I would ask just to make sure.

[To_be_Quite_Honest]

It was close to 30 years old and it was safe to say that there was no upgrades or maintenance other than cosmetic done done on the place EVER.

Summer of 1998 i was in an accident on those slides that required a night in the hospital, emergency surgery, pins in broken bones and perm scars w/one finger that will never be the same.

I received an out of court settlement that I shared with my lawyer, but that was almost ten years ago. I know I am not the only one to ever hurt myself on that thing, I wonder whats cheaper, payout of periodic injuries, or try to prevent the injuries before they happen by improving the waterpark.

Think of how flowing water can erode rock over a long period of time. Imagine how flowing water effects crap fiberglass over 30 years?

Its too bad, the Hat has the weather in the summer, they get alot of +30 days in their almost desert conditions and its one of the sunniest places on earth, Redcliff is the Greenhouse capital of canada and little known fact is Med Hat is a great place to study photography because of the "sunny" days each year, natural light is always best.

[Buff]

I remember the last couple times that I went (1999 and 2000) that my back was raw from the seams where parts of the slide connected.

[dionfan]

The worse I've ever had were all the fiberglass slivers in my back after the day was done. Man, those trips back home were always terrible because you could really feel the slivers digging into you when leaning back in the seat of the car.