Construction delays push Cowabunga Bay’s opening to spring 2014

Despite setbacks causing Cowabunga Bay Water Park to postpone its scheduled opening on Memorial Day weekend, the company is anticipating its slated debut in spring 2014.

“We are looking at whenever spring break starts in April,” said Shane Huish, the general manager of Cowabunga Bay. “We know the public was disappointed because they were looking forward to having the park open by this summer. They are still very excited and anxious for us to open.”

Henderson developers Ben Howell and Shawn Hassett announced their plans for Cowabunga Bay at the park’s groundbreaking in December.

The $23 million park, near Galleria Drive and Gibson Road, was put on an accelerated timeline to make sure doors opened in about six months.

During the last few months, Huish said the company kept running into construction delays.

The final straw, he said, was a delay in having the steel structures supporting the slides delivered. The final arrival date was scheduled for mid-June allowing for a few weeks to complete the final construction.

“But a representative from a U.S. manufacturer dropped the ball,” Huish said.

He said he couldn’t go into detail because of legal reasons.

By Huish’s estimates, Cowabunga Bay wouldn’t have opened until the end of July.

“The slides have already arrived,” he said. “It’s kind of a bummer.”

But Huish said it’s good to be able to construct the park in a timely manner instead of having to rush through the process.

“We were putting in a lot of money for it to be constructed on the accelerated timeline,” he said. “I’d rather it be done correctly. I want to have a good first impression. I was struggling to have the park not be the way I wanted it to be.”

Cowabunga Bay announced that it would have 30 attractions such as the 35,000-square-foot Surf-A-Rama Wave Pool.

The park is designed in three areas, including Aloha Shores, which pays tribute to Hawaiian beaches; Surf City U.S.A., which is reminiscent of 1950s beach-centered movies; and The Boardwalk, which represents seaside beaches from New Jersey and California

Huish said the park is scheduled to resume construction in October.

While it was preparing to open this season, Huish said the company started the hiring process.

“Luckily, it was only four or five major interviews,” he said.

The company was in the process of hiring lifeguard instructors to train the rest of the staff.

Also, people were allowed to purchase season passes.

“As soon as we found out, we refunded all the money,” Huish said. “It was quite a few people.”

Those who purchased the passes are expected to receive a special discount next year, he said.

Huish isn’t concerned with the scheduled opening of Wet ‘n Wild Las Vegas in southwest Las Vegas, which is on schedule to open Memorial Day weekend. He said the business plan already factored Wet ‘n Wild in.

“It wasn’t something new to us,” he said. “We just figured that we could even out the crowds (this summer).”

Huish said the market is big enough for two water parks.

For more information, visit cowabungabay.com.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.