Sliding into the New Year
So we’re going to replace our old waterslide with a brand spanking new double-flume waterslide? Yesssssss, that’s so exciting! It will be an amazing addition to our facility for the 2023 season. Wait….you’re kidding….we’re going to construct and open it during the season of 2022….guess I better put on my big boy pants for this one…
Yes, I was involved with the construction and opening of a waterslide mid-season. It was a fun, sometimes difficult, but rewarding process. What started as a single-flume waterslide in late 2021, blossomed into a double flume waterslide that would be a marked improvement over the previous version.
Things we had to contend with, in no particular order…
- An abbreviated timeline-we wanted this slide to be open for our patrons to use during the 2022 season. We knew this would require us to be as efficient as possible. Quicker demo, quicker site prep, quicker construction, etc. In this regard, the weather actually helped us out and we were able to have the site prepped for the waterslide in a very good time. As you can see, though, that led to some other issues…
- Lead times-we’ve all heard it in the news and read it in the headlines. Lead times are sometimes 6-12 months longer than they were pre-Covid. The early days of Covid, where the store shelves were decimated and void of toilet paper were truly signs of things to come in the realm of supply chain issues.
- Public perception-the contractors that we worked with did a great job of getting the site prepped before Memorial Day. But the problem that this created was that people thought the slide should just come in the next day and be put up like a Lego set. And because the site was prepped so quickly, the public perception was that we weren’t doing anything, when in fact we were waiting on the flume and tower to be fabricated, pumps/motors to be shipped, piping for plumbing to be shipped, etc.
When members saw that we were going to be having a slide installed and available during the 2022 season, they, just like us, hoped it would be opening weekend as opposed to mid-season. At any rate, even with all the curveballs we saw, we were able to see the flume and tower being assembled in mid-July, which was a miracle in my eyes. Progress was able to be seen each day as the tower and flume took shape. And when the slides officially opened and I once again saw a line of people on the tower waiting to slide down, a smile came across my face. And maybe a sigh of relief as well!
Happy New Year!