The city has already had issues finding contractors to conduct repairs and upgrades to the waterpark. Pictured: Wild Waterparks. Photo Credit: Wild Waterparks.
As Hamilton’s Wild Waterworks opens for the summer, the future of the aging attraction remains uncertain.
The waterpark, which is owned by the City of Hamilton and operated by the Hamilton Conservation Authority, was built in the 1980s and the structures are anticipated to reach the end of their lifespan in the next couple years.
As such, a report from November 2020 by city staff concluded that “significant capital investment is required to redevelop Wild Waterworks facilities once the structures can no longer safely operate.”
Then, more recently, Councillor Matt Francis (Ward 5 – Hamilton East-Stoney Creek) brought forward a motion to direct city staff to “investigate opportunities for the redevelopment of the Wild Waterworks site and surrounding lands within Confederation Beach Park.”
Staff will be reporting back to Council’s General Issues Committee in quarter four of this year.
The motion directs staff to explore the “potential for the venue to include a broad range of attractions/uses to make a viable destination”, “viable development concepts”, and “various models and options that maximize the contributions of private sector partners.”
Other options for Council as identified in the 2020 report are to simply let the waterpark age until it would need to be shut down which would cost of $5 million, replace structures for $25 million, provide enhancements and additional attractions for $40 million, or entirely redevelop the park at a cost of about $61 million.
The city has already had issues finding contractors to conduct repairs and upgrades to the waterpark.
When the city sought a company to conduct repairs to the eastern slide tower, which consists of two red body slides and two yellow and green body slides, the city received only a single bid.
TruGrp Inc. ended up receiving the $140,000 contract to fix corrosion on the launch platform and completed the work this past May.
Before that, the city sought a company to repaint the waterpark’s pink and blue tube slides and received one bid of $563,870 which was significantly higher than the $300,000 budget for the project.
The city then rendered the project, failed to receive a single bid, and ended up abandoning the cosmetic upgrades altogether.
Wild Waterworks sees approximately 100,000 visitors per year and is open from late June until early September.
The park is already open and operating for the 2024 season and is open 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. six days of the week.
The facility is normally closed on Mondays, although it is open on every holiday Monday.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
