Splash into summer

By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

Water parks help residents stay cool

Speeding down the slippery slope of a waterslide and crashing into the cool pool basin below is all it takes to chill out in the dog days of summer.

With the passing of the Memorial Day weekend, the summer season has officially kicked off, with water parks and splash pads opening their gates to the public.

“Essentially, the Metro Parks are trying to keep up with recreational trends,” said Jeff Linn, assistant park supervisor for Metro Beach Metro Park, which has featured the Squirt Zone since 2001. “One thing people are interested in is more entertainment (oriented water activities).”

The Squirt Zone covers about a quarter of an acre and, because there is no standing water, children and adults of all ages are welcome to enjoy its features with safety and ease.

“There are different types of spray apparatus — some are on all the time and kids can run under it; and some have buttons the kids can push and turn on the spray and squirt their friends or something,” Linn said.

Several hundred adults and children pass through the Squirt Zone throughout the course of a day, according to Linn, and it’s free to the public with park admission.

“It’s something that’s a little bit different,” Linn said of why people enjoy it. “People can decide how wet you want to get — if you just want to get your feet wet or if you want to get completely soaked, you can certainly do that.”

The park also features an Olympic-size pool with two waterslides and diving boards. Pool entrance comes with a $3 fee per person.

“I would encourage anyone to come out to the parks this summer,” Linn said. “I think we have a lot of things to offer the public to have a great time.”

The Squirt Zone is located at 31300 Metro Parkway at Metro Beach Metro Park in Mount Clemens. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is free with park admission. Park entry is $4 per vehicle per day, or $20 for an annual pass, which grants admission to all of the 13 Huron-Clinton Metro Parks. For more information, call (586) 463-4581.

Red Oaks Waterpark, located in Madison Heights, is one of the 13 Oakland County parks, and is full of water-related activities for children of all ages.

Soak Station is a children’s water playground with 68 features, including water jets, curtains and slides, bubbler jets and a six-foot tipping bucket.  There’s also Spray and Play, a water play area for toddlers, with 15 water jets and bubblers at zero depth. River Ride is a 990-foot-long moving river; Triple Turn is a triple-flume waterslide; and Terrific Tides is wave-action pool heated to 78 degrees.

Red Oaks Waterpark is located at 1455 E. 13 Mile Road in Madison Heights. It is open annually from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day, with special hours during July of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, call (248) 585-6990.

The Warren Community Center features a year-round indoor water park that opened to the public six years ago.

It includes a play structure situated in the water, with a 300-gallon dumping bucket, multiple slides, a zero-entry area and a lazy river; a regular activity pool for basketball, games and lap swimming; and a sauna, steam room and whirlpool, according to Henry Bowman, director of the Warren Parks and Recreation Department.

“There was definitely a need in our community for this type of thing, and the community just loves it,” Bowman said of the 165,000-square-foot Community Center that brings in some 350,000 visitors a year.

People of all ages frequent the water park, with seniors gathering in the morning for water aerobics and to walk the lazy river, and kids filling up the slides and play structure in the afternoons.

“The entire community can use the facility,” Bowman said. “It’s a great place. Water is traditionally one of the No. 1 ways of staying fit, and kids just love anything with water. We’ll take ‘em all.”

The Warren Community Center Water Park is located at 5460 Arden in Warren. Access costs $5 for residents and $10 for non-residents, but on Fridays, Health Alliance Plan covers water park admission for senior citizens. It is open year-round from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information, call (586) 268-8400.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jennie Miller at jmiller@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1108.