Just two months after the $3.2million hydroslides were opened, Invercargill’s Splash Palace has had an increase in usage of 35%.
Three new hydroslides were installed at the facility — two shorter body slides coloured green and blue (69m and 79m long, respectively), and a 101m raft slide featuring a large sphere section.
Invercargill City Council aquatic services manager Stephen Cook said the facility recorded 11,682 people using the new hydroslides up to the end of May.
‘‘We definitely saw an increase in the number of people, which was in line with our financial modelling.
‘‘But the good thing is we saw an increase on the number of teenagers using our slides.’’
Mr Cook said from April 19 — the date the slides opened — to May 31, the revenue from admissions at the Splash Palace was about $130,000 — $76,000 from that total was from hydroslide charges.
‘‘It is about 58% of our revenue, which is good.’’
Feedback had been very positive but as with any new build there had been a few teething issues, he said.
‘‘These include the stop/go light system not quite working as well as expected and the joints on a couple of the slides are slightly out of alignment, which we are going to rectify to improve the riding experience. ’’
The team was preparing to ramp up for increased numbers during the school holidays next month.
‘‘It is always a busy time for us,’’ he said.
