News: The Ravine Waterpark is finally set to open May 2007

Posted at 4:06 AM EST (0906 GMT)

Feb. 12th, 2007 -- The Ravine Waterpark is the hottest place to cool off this summer on the Central Coast in Paso Robles, California. After 3 years of construction, the water park is finally set to open this May. The 15-acre facility was originally scheduled to open in 2005 at a cost of $2 million. The design of the park was to feature 10 water slides, including tall twister and speed slides, an hour-glass shaped "kiddie pool" with play equipment, a meandering river to float in, batting cages and a go-kart track. But the park's construction was not completed in time.

With the loss of the 2005 season, the decision was made to add additional water amusements with a cost of $2 million in upgrades. These upgrades included a 175,000 gallon wave pool and Vertigo, a high speed slide where riders drop from an elevated chute into a giant open bowl, spinning in circles to a splash landing. Brett Butterfield, Co-owner and developer of The Ravine Waterpark, had hopes to opening the park in the summer of 2006, yet stated the park's opening was to be delayed due to the complexity of regulations in the system; and more changes made by the developers to tweak the family water park concept.

Butterfield has announced The Ravine Waterpark will finally open this May and expects to draw 50,000 to 70,000 visitors each year.

"It set us back," he said, "but it’s now bigger; it’s more up-end and a flashier deal with lots of things to do."

In it's final development stages, the park added an additional 170ft to their original 650ft lazy river which connected it to the wave pool, quadrupled the size of their children’s pool, added an extreme slide tower, and now offer guests to ability to rent semi-private cabanas on the Palm Island section of the water park.

Butterfield commented on a decision to drop the addition of batting cages, an arcade and a go-kart track, "When the area is ready for an amusement park, it will be ready for a large-scale one, so we decided just to keep the water park direction."

For more information on this story visit San Luis Obispo Tribune and The Ravine Waterpark.