NOT DRY FOR LONG PALMDALE'S MUCH-ANTICIPATED WATER PARK SPLASHING TO LIFE.Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer PALMDALE - Three 35-foot-tall waterslides, a 925-foot-long ``river,'' nearly 2,000 innertubes and rafts, and a playground standing in a foot of water go to work this weekend keeping Palmdale residents cool. The city's $15.4 million DryTown Water Park opens Saturday, after a month of training some 110 staffers and lifeguards, mostly college and high school students, and one summer later than originally hoped because of construction delays from 2005 storms. ``People are always at the gate looking in: `When are you going to open?''' recreation supervisor Pete Casey said Tuesday, as the park was opened to local news media. ``There seems to be lots of interest. There was a lot of positive feedback from folks on the weekend during our training.'' The western-themed water park is in the 33-acre Oasis Park, on Avenue S at 40th Street East, one of two ``superparks'' financed with a special tax that Palmdale property owners approved in 2002. The other was an expanded Marie Kerr Park, which gained a swimming pool and an amphitheater amphitheater (ăm`fəthē'ətər, ăm`pə–), open structure used for the exhibition of gladiatorial contests, struggles of wild beasts, sham sea battles, and similar spectacles. . DryTown's three water slides are named Rattler's Revenge, The Wildcatter wild·cat·ter n. 1. One who is engaged in speculative mining or well drilling in areas not known to be productive. 2. A promoter of speculative or fraudulent business enterprises. 3. and Devil's Punchbowl Punchbowl, hill, 500 ft (152 m) high, in the city of Honolulu, SE Oahu island, Hawaii. In the bowllike extinct volcanic crater at the summit (reached by a scenic drive) is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, for those killed in World War II. -- the last of which lasts more than a minute, with riders swirling around a giant blue basin before plunging plunge v. plunged, plung·ing, plung·es v.tr. 1. To thrust or throw forcefully into a substance or place: down the drain. Visitors can also float in inner tubes on the slow-moving current of a ``river'' called Big Rock River. The Little Miners Camp, for youngsters under age 12, has a rope bridge, slides and stairs standing in a foot of water and continually doused by fountains. Moms and dads can watch from lounge chairs under more than 50 umbrellas and shades set up around the park. A grill sells hamburgers, chicken and deli sandwiches, and an arcade has electronic games Electronic Games was the first video game magazine published in the United States and ran from 1981 to 1985. Co-founded by Arnie Katz, Joyce Worley and Bill Kunkel, it is unrelated to the subsequent Electronic Gaming Monthly. . Starting Saturday, the water park will be open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily through Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. . From 6 to 9 p.m., the park will be available for rent -- starting at $3,000 plus food -- by businesses or organizations. The water park has room for 3,000. About 1,000 season passes have been sold so far. Daily admission for patrons ages 9 and older will be $12 for Palmdale residents, $15 for nonresidents. Tickets for Palmdale children ages 3 to 8 cost $7, or $10 for nonresidents. Palmdale seniors age 62 or older pay $7, or $10 for nonresidents. Military personnel tickets cost $10, for both resident and nonresidents. Season passes cost $53 for Palmdale residents, $64 for nonresidents. A Family Pack of four season passes costs $180 for Palmdale residents, $218 for nonresidents; passes for additional family members are $50 for residents, $60 for nonresidents. The $27.5 million Oasis Park opened its recreation center in October, with the 25-yard by 25-meter swimming pool opening to the public this weekend. The 16,800-square-foot recreation center contains a gymnasium gymnasium In Germany, a state-maintained secondary school that prepares pupils for higher academic education. This type of nine-year school originated in Strasbourg in 1537. big enough for a regulation basketball court or two smaller courts, a dance and fitness studio with wood flooring Wood flooring is a type of flooring made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. There are two basic manufactured types of hardwood. Wood flooring comes unfinished, and once installed is sanded, then finished on site. , a youth game area, a lounge, a kitchen and a multipurpose mul·ti·pur·pose adj. Designed or used for several purposes: a multipurpose room; multipurpose software. multipurpose Adjective hall that can be divided into three separate rooms. Operating the water park is expected to cost about $1 million per summer, city officials said. Officials hope to attract 125,000 visitors a summer and to have admission fees cover the costs. CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Above, lifeguard Josh JOSH Joshua JOSH Job Scheduling Hierarchically Kahler, 18, comes down the Rattler's Revenge slide at Palmdale's new DryTown Water Park, which opens Saturday. Below, lifeguards Jennifer McFate and Eric McIntyre ride the Devil's Punchbowl. (3 -- 4 -- color) Above, lifeguards ride Big Rock River at the DayTown Water Park in Palmdale. Top, a view of the new $15.4 million western-themed water park, which opens Saturday. (5 -- color) Lifeguards Lacy Sanders San´ders n. 1. An old name of sandalwood, now applied only to the red sandalwood. See under Sandalwood. , 21, and Eric McIntyre, 20, ride the Devil's Punchbowl on Tuesday. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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