Water park a go
| Tuesday, Apr 14 2009 06:38 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Apr 14 2009 06:38 PM
Slides, pools, tube rides and a river will be among attractions at a 22-acre water park in northwest Bakersfield that received permit approval from city staffers Tuesday.
Developers expect to break ground in August and open the facility, located on Riverlakes Drive west of Coffee Road, in 2010.
The private amusement park will lease land from the North of the River Recreation and Park District, which is building a separate 40,000-square-foot public community center with basketball, indoor soccer and other facilities on five adjoining acres.
The center was also OK'd Tuesday under the same permit.
The approval by Bakersfield's Board of Zoning Adjustment is final unless appealed within 10 days. It would then be considered by the city council.
No one spoke against the water park.
The developer, Orange County-based Clearwater Waterpark Development LLC, plans to build a first phase on 14 acres.
The facility would include about 320 paid parking spaces. Developers plan to charge around $5 a day for parking, though cars with four or more people could park for free.
Up to 2,100 guests a day are expected, though operations are seasonal.
Clearwater owns the large Wild Rivers Waterpark in Irvine, currently slated to stay open through at least fall 2010 after a lease extension from the Irvine Co., which wants to build houses on the land, the Orange County Register reported.
