Ballarat youngsters have voiced their rage and sadness at the dismantling of the Eureka Aquatic Centre’s iconic water slide.
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The giant slide was torn down last week amid fears of being structurally unsafe.
In response to the slide’s removal, students from Canadian Lead Primary School individually sent letters to The Courier to express their their sadness at the loss of a childhood symbol.
Central to the 15 contributed letters was the question of why the slide was not simply repaired rather than dismantled.
“I feel that the Eureka Pool wouldn't be the same if you rid of the slide. I have been going on the slide for a long time since I was young and I feel you need to leave it there as long as the Eureka Pool is in existence,” 12-year-old Alyssa wrote.
Meanwhile, others have expressed their concerns that the removal of the slide has left nothing for local teenagers to enjoy at the complex.
“In my opinion, teenagers hate the idea of demolishing the slide in the Eureka Pool,” Luke said.
“It's like the council only think about the younger kids and what they want. Now the young ones get two play spaces and us teenagers get nothing in the pool to use.”
“I feel that making a water fun park for kids is very unfair to the young adults who use the slide and pool regularly. It's very unfair to older kids (ages 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 plus years old),” Kyla added.
The slide will be replaced with a $550,000 outdoor water play park, using leftover funds from the under-budget Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre 50 metre pool.
Rust was considered one of the reasons why the slide was unsafe.
Council will use $750,000 from its 2015/16 budget to upgrade the Eureka Street facility, which includes the construction of the $550,000 water play space.
An additional $200,000 in works will also be delivered as part of the Eureka Pool project.
Improvement works will be made to the existing kiosk and change rooms.
The 335 metre-squared water play space is larger than the existing Midlands Water Play Facility in Doveton Street, Ballarat North.
The new playspace will be designed by Waterplay Solutions Corp who have built similar aquatic projects in Queensland and Las Vegas.
It will include a mega-soaker bucket, splash blaster, spray tunnel and an area for gentle play for younger children and should be open for the 2015-16 outdoor pool season.
However, Ballarat mayor John Philips said a new water slide may be built at another location in the wake of the removal of the Eureka version.
