In fact, today, Wisconsin Dells boasts the highest concentration of indoor waterparks in the world.

But it wasn’t always that way.

The area boomed during peak summer months, but was relatively dead the rest of the year. Then in 1989, the Polynesian Resort Hotel & Suites eliminated the less-profitable off-season by enclosing part of its waterpark and introducing the indoor park concept to the nation.

Now a year-round destination, the Dells has 2.5 million annual visitors who spend $500 million during off-peak months (September through April), up from just $88.4 million in 1993. That 465 percent increase is due almost entirely to the addition of indoor waterparks.

“We wouldn’t ever build another resort without an indoor waterpark,” says Tim Lucke, owner of the Dells’ Wilderness Resort, which has five football fields’ worth of outdoor park space and two indoor parks totaling more than 135,000 square feet. “It solidifies your year-round business. Before [our indoor parks], we would be busy only in summer. We would be absolutely dead in the winter if we didn’t have an indoor park.”

The indoor parks are crucial components of Wilderness Resort because they generate business all year for several attached hotels, condos and villas. Guests also spend money at the resort’s restaurants, retail shops, spa and arcade.

Weatherproof vacation
Bad weather is Enemy No. 1 of traditional waterparks. In areas where rain and snow would limit operation to a few months or less, an indoor park provides resorts with a four-season solution. Such is the case in the wind-and-rain-rich Pacific Northwest.

“We get a lot of rain that can literally blow sideways,” says James Castino of Castino Architecture, which designed the newly opened Big Splash Water Park in Ocean Shores, Wash. “Enclosing a water slide inside a building is the only way something like this could economically function.”

Big Splash is part of The Muriah development, which includes full-ownership condos, a Ramada Hotel, a restaurant and a spa. Thanks to the indoor waterpark, the resort is expecting solid bookings this winter.

An enclosed park also is the only way many Americans can afford to have warm-weather vacations. The tropical-themed Grand Rios Indoor Water Park Hotel in Brooklyn Park, Minn., has four-story slides, a 500-gallon dumping bucket and a lazy river, plus nonwater activities such as a spa and restaurants. The resort offers local families an affordable alternative to expensive trips to equatorial islands.

“With the reputation of brutal and long Minnesota winter seasons, the Grand Rios allows us to provide an 80-degree, Caribbean retreat 365 days a year. Who says you cannot have it all?” says Angela Greer, director of marketing and public relations at The Wirth Cos., owner of the Grand Rios. “We give our guests sunshine and warmth regardless if it is raining, snowing or below zero outside.”

The Grand Rios is the driving force behind the success of the attached 224-room hotel, two restaurants and arcade. The property has proven so successful that Wirth is now designing Water Park of America, an indoor park adjacent to the fully enclosed Mall of America. The park (and its 10-story water slide) is slated to open in May 2006.

Structurally sound
The proven success of indoor facilities has many operators clamoring to find enclosures for their waterpark resorts. The question is not if but how to enclose a space. With so many options available (prefabricated vs. custom, wood vs. steel, fixed vs. retractable roof and the like), choosing can be difficult. The decision can be boiled down to its three most critical parts: form, function and cost.

1 Form
More often than not, waterpark resorts incorporate themes that drive decisions about their appearance. An enclosure sets the stage for a park and should complement the theme.

Like the Grand Rios, Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park Resort in Eerie, Pa., is designed to look like an island oasis.

The tropical park has the Tiki Tree House and rides with names such as Monkey Shines Island, Maui Wowie and Hula Hopper. The park is housed in a custom-built wooden enclosure.

“I think the enclosure has helped the signature look and theme a lot,” says Nicholas Scott Sr., president/CEO of Scott Enterprises, which designed and operates Splash Lagoon. “It was expensive, but aesthetically, it is the best.”

Steel buildings can be modified to create a theme as well. H2Oasis Indoor Water Park in Anchorage, Alaska, used a prefabricated metal building, but “it doesn’t look like a shed,” says Dennis Prendeville, president/CEO. “I told the architect, if mom goes down this road with her kids and sees something that looks like an industrial building, we’ve failed.” Simple modifications gave the structure the look of a castle, complete with turrets and a battlement.

How much natural light an enclosure lets in is another important aesthetic consideration. A transparent roofing system is like one large window, and a retractable roof can be opened to allow in natural light and air. Fixed and solid roofing systems, on the other hand, offer no overhead light so they must incorporate wall windows and skylights.

Architect Castino tweaked every aspect of Big Splash’s metal building, from its dimensions to its roof pitch. He had the building covered in stucco and added large expanses of windows, which are less expensive than skylights. The result is a building that barely resembles its metal beginnings.

“The east entry has one [wall] that is almost entirely glass. Patrons can see all the way into the facility,” Castino says. “The natural light splashes the entire floor area.”

2 Function
Architects always struggle to find a balance between a waterpark’s form and its function. The enclosure needs to look great, but also must coexist peacefully with the equipment and activities inside.

Waterpark resorts love to boast about the size of their rides, particularly stories-high slides and tubes. To accommodate them, a building must have great height and wide-open expanses. This can be accomplished least expensively with steel or concrete structures.

“We needed a big building with clear spans that could house the whole park, where you have lots of room up and around so it looks wide open and not closed,” Prendeville says. H2Oasis’ steel building has a 100-foot span that’s free of columns or support beams, affording ample room for the 43-foot-tall water coaster.

While steel is an economical option, it’s not without faults. One trade-off is noise. Sound bounces off metal and is amplified, while wood tends to absorb noise and keep things quieter. “Noise is really a problematic situation with the solid surface area in the Grand Rios,” Greer notes. The building is made of precast concrete walls and a steel roof.

3 Cost
The bottom line for any project is, of course, the bottom line. Designers must weigh both the immediate and long-term costs when choosing enclosures.

Enclosures start near the $1 million mark for a prefabricated building and can easily top $2 million for a custom wood design. It usually takes several years to recoup those costs. There are also long-term maintenance costs and, eventually, replacement costs.

Metal buildings are cheaper in initial costs, but require recoating every decade to prevent corrosion. Wooden buildings cost twice as much as metal, but there’s no threat of rust and they have longer life spans.

Prendeville chose a metal enclosure for H2Oasis primarily because of budget concerns. The entire waterpark cost approximately $10 million, with just one-tenth of that going to the shell. He expects the building to last about 40 years and is prepared for frequent coatings to prevent rusting.

“The atmosphere in a waterpark is very corrosive,” Prendeville says. “We had special coatings put on all of the steel and it’s helped a great deal, but you can still tell that everything wants to corrode. With every scratch, it begins to show. We keep after it.”

To avoid these maintenance problems and to achieve a rustic look, Scott selected wood for Splash Lagoon. “It’s not going to rust and as long as the wood doesn’t crack or expand, it will last longer than the park,” he says.

Scott knows he could’ve saved at least $1 million by choosing another structure. Also, he underestimated the costs of heating and lighting for his indoor park. These facts weigh heavily on his mind and pocketbook.

“We might consider a different type of enclosure if we have another addition,” Scott says. “We’re aware of those parks that were built more economically, and they are viable. You have to keep examining what the most important element is: the aesthetics or the structures you put in it? It’s an experience game. They both work, but you have so many dollars to create this venue and you have to make decisions, and a lot of them are compromises.”

Word to the wise
Ready to run out and enclose a portion of your waterpark? Take it slowly. Nicholas Scott has operated both outdoor and indoor waterparks and says the latter is more difficult. Sure, an indoor park can boost a resort’s year-round appeal, but it also requires many more expenses than an outdoor facility, including heating, cooling and ventilation.

“It’s more difficult than it looks,” Scott says. “Anybody who’s thinking of doing it should very carefully analyze all the potential costs involved. You need to do as much due diligence as possible. You can’t afford to make a mistake in the location, marketing or estimates because it can blow up.”

Despite the extra burdens, he says indoor parks are worth their weight in gold. In addition to four-season ticket sales, the park provides a constant stream of guests to the resort’s three hotels and two restaurants.

“It’s much less expensive to operate outside, but the difference is, you can operate only two months and you’re at the mercy of the weather all the time,” Scott says. “This park is always 84 degrees, drawing people in from long distances.”

About the author
Becky Mollenkamp is a freelance writer
based in Windsor Heights, Iowa.