Sandy Beach Water Park gearing up for Friday opening

Better late than never.

That’s the mantra of the operators of a new water amusement park at Lake Tobesofkee as well as Macon-Bibb County officials eager to see the $2.7 million facility open to the public Friday.

The park’s gates opening on Independence Day weekend comes more than a month after the park’s originally scheduled Memorial Day weekend debut, which was scrapped because of construction delays.

Park builder Jeff Franklin, president of Spirit of America, said everything points to the public being excited about the new park.

“People keep driving by to take a look at it,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of hits on our website. There’s a lot of buzz going around. Every day it just looks better and better.”

Work crews are working feverishly on the finishing touches. Sod is being laid, and the final work on the water slides, showers and other amenities is underway.

Larry Schlesinger, chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Commission’s Economic and Community Development Committee, said he visited the park last week and was pleased with its progress.

“I’m glad it’s opening, even though it’s not the scope that was originally promised,” he said, referring to changes in the contract that allow Spirit of America to postpone some of the amenities. “I think it’s going to be great not only for Macon-Bibb County, but for all of Middle Georgia as well.”

AMENITIES

The most visible feature of Sandy Beach Water Park are two 27-foot water slides that sit next to each other. One of the slides is a straight shot into a pool, while the other slide features a series of spiral turns.

The slides are located directly behind the “lazy river,” a 3-foot deep, 600-foot long pool with a current that allows people to float along it.

The river surrounds an artificial sandy beach. Originally, plans called for a beach volleyball court, but park operators were concerned that it could be dangerous in that location if a player accidentally fell into the river while playing.

On the other side of the park is a 25-meter swimming pool.

Misty Gamble, the park’s general manager, said the majority of questions she has fielded from the public have been about the bathroom facilities. Franklin informed commissioners several weeks ago that permanent bathrooms wouldn’t be completed in time to open for this summer and got permission to build temporary facilities instead.

Gamble said some people thought that would mean portable toilets.

But in fact, the restroom facilities are located in large trailers. Each trailer -- one for men, one for women -- will contain toilets, sinks, showers and a changing area. Unlike many parks of similar size, each trailer will have air conditioning.

“These (temporary) facilities are nicer than some of the permanent ones at other parks I’ve been to,” Gamble said.

According to the Macon-Bibb contract, permanent restroom/locker room facilities will be built before the opening of the park’s third season.

The center of the park will feature a water playground for younger kids, while adults will be able to put their chairs virtually anywhere in the park. There also will be four pavilions and cabana chairs throughout the park on a first-come, first-served basis, Gamble said.

Additionally, two food concession trucks will be featured at the park. One will be operated by the park itself and will offer snacks such as popcorn, pretzels and cotton candy.

The other truck will be operated by Marco’s Pizza, which won a contract to be the exclusive food service truck at the park.

Shawn Skrip, director of operations for Marco’s Pizza in the midstate, said the truck will offer large and individual pizzas, cold sub sandwiches and salads.

“We were really looking for cross-market operations,” Skrip said. “We think (the park) will have a big impact on business. I’ve been looking at data from other smaller water parks, looking at the low end and the high end. We’re expecting 600 to 900 transactions a day.”

Marco’s pays rent to the park to operate and is on a one-year contract, he said.

“We’re just excited to be a part of something new in Macon,” he said.

In addition to the water activities, Gamble said the park will schedule a series of live concerts on Friday nights later in the summer.

THE NUMBERS

The park will employ 60 to 65 workers each summer, Gamble said, while Marco’s will have nine.

In all, the park will use more than 250,000 gallons of water among its amenities, which is continually filtered and recirculated.

Gamble said park officials are estimating an average attendance of 1,200 to 1,300 a day, not just from Macon, but from across Middle Georgia.

Franklin said the park has an additional 25 acres for future expansion, and eventually a third slide will be added. Gamble said the area for a planned wave pool already has been set aside. While the contract was amended to let Spirit of America put that in before the start of the 2017 season, Gamble said she thinks it could be done in time to be open next year.

“It has to be in by ‘17, but we want it in by ‘16,” she said. “We hope we can start construction on it in the fall.”

The park will be opened daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m. through the first weekend in August, and then open on weekends only through Labor Day weekend. The park also will be open for group rentals after the season ends, while various pavilions are available for rent for parties.

Franklin said the construction delays, caused in part because of rain earlier this year, caused the park to lose some business.

“It definitely hurt us,” he said. “We wanted to have a soft opening in May, then get it really going by Memorial Day weekend. We lost a lot of business, but we’re here for the long run.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Sandy Beach Water Park gearing up for Friday opening."