Volume 2, No. 16. August 23, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
a waterpark!
Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix, Arizona, announces the arrival of The
Oasis, August 22, 2002. Measurements: six acres (2.4 hectares), three body slides
off an 83-foot tower (25 meters), 10,000-square-foot wave pool (929 square meters),
950-foot-long (290-meter-long) and 12-foot-wide (3.6-meter-wide) active river,
800-square-foot (74 square meter) toddler pool with interactive elements, 25-person
hot tub, one restaurant and one gift shop. Delivered by EDSA Cloward, Kitchell
Contractors, Rock and Waterscape, Synectic Design, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin and
Whitewater West.
For a 15-year-old resort embarking on a major overhaul of amenities starting
with the $12.3 million Oasis waterpark, the opening night crowd could not have
been better selected. Some 750 Medtronics salesmen and women were on hand to
inaugurate the new waterpark. Ranging in age from young 30s to late 50s, they
swarmed over the three thrill slides and filled the action river with screams
of laughter.
“It’s like a bunch of arrested-development kids,” said Ron Olstad,
managing director of Pointe South Mountain Resort. “We’re feeding
them and drinking them and they’re entertaining themselves. We have a steel
drum band and a few moon globes, and the rest is in their hands.” At the
time Olstad was speaking, the 7 to 10:30 p.m. (19,00 to 22,30) exclusive party
had just reached its midpoint.“They’re just cranking up,” he
said.
Though just hours old—and, for that matter, just a few hours after the
park earned its certificate of occupancy—this was a promising start to
a waterpark meant to appeal to groups and an older demographic than do most
waterparks. “We really wanted a private water adventure that would be sophisticated
enough for adults, because we do so much group business, and still be exciting
for families with youngsters,” Olstad said.
That accounts for the high thrill slides and an action river with “more
bells and whistles to make it unusual,” including bubblers, misters, arching
water streams, jets speeding up the current and a whirlpool that creates an
eddy effect. Banking the river are rocks to create the sensation that you are
floating through a canyon. The river surrounds an island with grass area and
a fire pit, again catering to group business. Alongside the wave pool is a sports
pool with water volleyball and basketball, and both pools will provide “theater
seating” for dive-in movies, thanks to a 20-by-20-foot (6-by-6-meter) movie
screen Oasis will be able to erect on piers behind the wave pool.
The waterpark will be available to guests of the 640-room resort, plus the resort's
1,500 health club members and 450 tennis club members. Nevertheless, Olstad
is counting on his new waterpark to garner a lot of attention. “This is
a 15-year-old resort that is ensuring we not only stay competitive but try to
advance our advantages,” he said. “We’re definitely scoring a
coup with this. We absolutely will have the best water feature of any private
resort environment in the Southwest.”
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved