Would New Water Slide at White Water Canyon Be Worth the Cost?

The White Water Canyon Water Park was designed and built one decade ago with the intention of someday adding a third water slide.

Although $375,000 was set aside this year for the project, several Tinley Park Park District commissioners, who oversee the , questioned Wednesday whether it's a smart investment.

“Is it justifiable to spend that much?” Board President Brian Younker asked park district staff, summarizing the concerns of other commissioners. “Will it increase the traffic?”

If modern tech companies have anything to teach about marketing, it’s that “new” is a profitable lure. But the Tinley Park Park District is not Apple. Even if the additional slide attracts patrons, the water park’s success still relies primarily on weather.

As facilities manager Karol Komar pointed out, the park district could construct the slide this fall and experience low attendance next summer because of lukewarm temperatures. There’s a risk involved in any project. Last year, she said, the water park reported its highest attendance on record because of the heat.

But what happens when something becomes “old” in the eyes of parents and kids? Which perception has a greater effect on attendance? John Curran, director of parks and recreation, warned commissioners that attendance often drops as soon as patrons believe a recreation facility is aged.

White Water Canyon is only so big, Komar noted, and the goal of a third slide is not necessarily to attract new customers but to keep the ones it has.

“People ask about it every year,” she said. “Do we have to do it this year? Probably not. But if you want to keep refreshing something that’s going to be, now, 10 years old and outdated, you do that by adding another feature.”

She gave other suggestions for improving the water park, including a lap pool by the guard house, but noted that they would end up costing “way more” than another slide.

Curran said he would research whatever statistics he could find about the relationship between new features and attendance and learn what he could from the park district’s own data.

“Is (the slide) going to pay for itself?” Board Treasurer Steven Medrow asked. And with that the board decided it best to leave matters for now.

If the board moves forward with the project, a request for proposal will be sent out in June or July. In that event, construction would begin in September, after the water park closes for the year, Curran said.