Photo Credit: Courtesy of Shawnee County Parks + Recreation
How do you top the excitement of a staff member climbing atop a pool tower, setting himself on fire, and then swan-diving into a pool? Well, since that happened in the 1950s and wouldn’t be allowed today, try cutting a ribbon as the first of 400 middle-school students and family members come screaming down five 35-foot-high water slides, across a zip line, up a climbing wall, and into a first-of-its-kind bow-tie wave pool.
Flaming divers aside, divergent experiences are a key part of Shawnee County Parks + Recreation’s (SCP+R) aquatic strategy in Topeka, Kan. Rather than build a single, large aquatic center to serve the entire community, the department has built three centers in three locations—each offering a different experience.
The Family Experience
The flaming diver was Mike Blaisdell, the son of R. Foster Blaisdell, Topeka’s first recreation director and the namesake of Shawnee County’s original “leisure-type” aquatic center. Dedicated in 2000, Blaisdell Family Aquatic Center is centrally located in Gage Park, which houses the Topeka Zoo and the Conservation Center, popular mini-train and carousel rides, and public gardens, among its many attractions.