Those looking forward to fun at Adventure Bay — the indoor water park portion of Windsor’s Family Aquatic Complex — will have to wait until the new year.
Mayor Eddie Francis called a noon press conference on Christmas Eve to announce that the park’s holiday opening dates have been cancelled, meaning the park won’t be open to the public until Jan. 18.
“I know a lot of you are probably going to be upset, but I hope you’ll recognize and understand why we’re pushing this forward,” Francis said. “We don’t want you to come to a facility and not be able to use all the rides.”
Adventure Bay was originally to welcome its first visitors from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5 as a ‘soft launch.’
Francis said everything in the park is ready, but there have been unexpected delays in the safety certification of two water ride features: The Master Blaster and the Whizzard.
Amusement devices fall under the purview of the Technical Standards & Safety Authority. The mayor said circumstances including the ice storm have led to TSSA being unable to provide their official approvals in time for a Dec. 30 opening.
“We had a decision to make,” Francis said. “The last thing we’re going to do is open up a facility that’s not fully operational.”
The Master Blaster consists of the large yellow tube that snakes around the water park. Visitors ride on mats while water runs down the tube. “It’s a roller coaster on water,” Francis said.
The Whizzard is a three-lane water slide on the western side of the building. Riders on mats travel a steep decline to generate speed and then race each other to the finish.
“If you’ve got kids like I do, they’re going to want to get on the big Master Blaster or Whizzard and enjoy it,” Francis said.
The mayor added that he feels badly for the workers who worked hard to meet the Dec. 30 opening. “Most of them gave up some time from their families to get this up and running,” Francis said.
Anyone who purchased passes in anticipation of the Dec. 30 opening will be given two free passes for each one they bought. Francis said about 200 passes were sold before Tuesday’s announcement.
Current members of Windsor Water World and Adie Knox Herman swimming pool were originally to have special preview dates for the water park. Francis said those dates have been pushed to mid-January, and the city will be contacting registrants directly.
The Family Aquatic Complex’s main swimming facility — the natatorium — will open as scheduled on Jan. 1.
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