Dubbo’s popular water slides are gone for now but they will come back - with an eye-catching appearance.
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The attraction would look a little different after the completion of its “new for old” replacement despite being in the same “configuration and style”, Dubbo City Council recreation services manager James McKechnie said.
“It will be a bit more colourful - stay tuned on that,” he said.
Work on renewing the 32-year-old twin water slides at the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre continued yesterday.
Dubbo City Council, the facility’s owner, accepted a tender of $316,580 excluding GST from Dubbo Terrazzo and Concrete Industries last week after a public tender process.
Crews from the Dubbo firm were yesterday dismantling the set up of fibreglass sections deemed to have reached the end of their useful life.
The council regards the asset as an important recreational resource and reports that at least 100,000 individual slide rides had taken place each year.
Takings from the slides were about 20 to 25 per cent of the centre’s total income, Mr McKechnie said.
The slide’s popularity had also been evident in comments made on social media at the announcement of the works, he said.
“The interest has been really good to see,” he said.
After extensive research the council located the original manufacturer of the slide and the fibreglass moulds for the individual sections are still in existence.
This meant only minor work would need to be undertaken by Dubbo Terrazzo and Concrete Industries on the steel infrastructure and the plunge pool, significantly reducing the cost in comparison to constructing an entirely new slide, Mr McKechnie said.
As well as more colour, the manager foreshadowed “other little improvements” including lights to signal stop and go.
They would improve entry into the pool, Mr McKechnie said.
