SALT LAKE CITY — The iconic Raging Waters waterpark in Salt Lake City’s Glendale neighborhood is being destroyed after years of sitting abandoned.
The property sits on 17 acres on 1700 South and 1200 West.
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“My kids loved it. I loved it,” said Vika Satini.
On Thursday, city crews tore apart some slides. Filling-in the pools and removing the paving will be next.
“To see it like this is just so sad,” said Satini.
In the early 1980s, the iconic water playground boasted one of only one of three wave pools in the world.
Raging Waters then later, Seven Peaks, put Salt Lake City on the map.
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“We want this land to become a valued community asset once again,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “The water park is an important part of our City’s history and its future. We are looking forward to learning from the Glendale community and other Salt Lake residents about what this site means to them and how it could be transformed.”
“This was an institution both for the neighborhood and the whole Wasatch Front,” said Glendale Community Council Chair Turner Britton.
Now, the pools leak and the equipment is unsafe. It’s a magnet for mischief and crime.
“We get a lot of folks who camp here. We get a lot of folks who wanted to play on big slides and were injured. Folks who messed with electrical things, lit fires in the buildings,” said Britton.
The site was purchased with state money, so it must be used for outdoor recreation. For now, demolition is the only solid plan.
The City of Salt Lake says they’re doing everything they can to recycle the old park. They want to take the concrete and use it as a road base for further projects. Healthy trees will be preserved and some of the slides will be set aside.
Satini hopes something just as exciting will return for the Glendale neighborhood.
“Even if they brought back like a public pool, something with smaller slides, a splash pad would be so great,” said Satini.
The city is currently taking public input on what to do with the land. A master plan is expected next spring.
