Pandemic no time to consider $40-million revamp for Wild Waterworks: Hamilton councillor

Consultants recommend a $40-million upgrade to Wild Waterworks to ensure the aging beach strip attraction stays afloat in coming years.

It's not unreasonable advice, but the discussion couldn't come at a worse time," says the councillor whose ward includes the 35-year-old Confederation Park water park.

We're dealing with an unprecedented budget pressure with the pandemic," Coun. Chad Collins said Thursday.

The city owns Wild Waterworks, but the Hamilton Conservation Authority operates it.

Many mechanical components of the 12-acre park's attractions are either reaching or have exceeded" their expiration date, the consultant found.

Overall, there are many challenges the park faces including a number of infrastructure issues which must be addressed as soon as possible," notes a staff report based on the consultant's master plan study.

Buildings at the park are structurally sound," but too small to accommodate the roughly 100,000 visitors a year who pass through its gates.

This causes circulation congestion issues," including at the entrance, resulting in a negative guest experience and the loss of potential revenue."

The attractions and infrastructure are having difficulty functioning under the stress of peak attendance days," the staff report adds.

The consultant offers four options for the park:

• $5-million do nothing" approach, or status quo, would see annual attendance dip to 90,000 in five years. It would require an increasing amount of operating and maintenance capital to continue to operate and lead to its closure;

• $24.9-million replace like for like" option, which would boost attendance to 120,000 with the replacement of existing rides, attractions and facilities with similar ones;

• $40.1-million upgrade that would boost attendance to 145,000 in seven years with a larger water park with new rides and attractions;

• $61.1-million revamp that hikes attendance to 185,000 in seven years though an entirely newly designed park with updated amenities.

The master plan study recommends the $40.1-million option of modest enhancements" as the most financially viable."

Collins remembers being at Wild Waterworks with his mother, who was a city councillor at the time, on opening day. It's very much the same as it was in 1983, so not a lot of changed."

However, the Ward 5 councillor notes more up-to-date competitors in the region, including Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls and Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, are giving Wild Waterworks are run for its money.

Collins says he'd prefer to revisit the consultant's options in late 2021 or early 2022 in light of the ongoing pandemic, which has shuttered the park.

Everyone's kind of in the same boat," he said about tourist and recreation attractions. It's a waiting game."

On Thursday, city staff told councillors the plan is to report back on the feasibility" of the consultant's recommendation in time for 2022 capital budget deliberations.

The temporary closure of Wild Waterworks due to the pandemic has reduced the annual management fee the conservation authority receives from the city, resulting in a dip in revenue for the agency of about $300,000.

We were able to make that up this summer and fall once all of our conservation areas, camping and marina reopened with very strong daily visitation as most other recreation and travel opportunities did not exist and the weather was excellent to enjoy the outdoors," CAO Lisa Burnside said in an email.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com