Photo Credit: Florida Department of Environmental Protection
This column, “LBWA” (Leadership By Wandering Around), is based on the premise that, in order to find out what’s going on in the field, a parks and rec leader has to leave his or her desk and “wander around” the area of operations, talk to people, ask questions, and kick around ideas with the individuals in the thick of delivering services to the public. So the author will bring up issues that may be common to many PRB readers and ask the leaders who are the readers to weigh in and share their knowledge and experiences.
In the 1980s and ‘90s there was a surge of water park projects and attractions across the United States that catered to public demands for fun; these facilities went beyond common rectangular swimming pools as places to beat the heat.
Each park was different—some were public at either the local or state level, others were private businesses, and still others were public-private partnerships. And while some featured a simple winding water slide added to an existing pool, other facilities featured more, such as several higher, spiraling slides, zero-depth pools, and a variety of “spray” features. Some were built from the ground-up strictly as water parks while others were added to an existing facility. In more recent years, “spray parks” have become the rage.