“Its main purpose is to teach kids and beginners how to properly get up on a wakeboard or water skis,” Kennedy said.
The Wake Nation lake is a 10-acre oval where riders can wakeboard, water ski, kneeboard and wakeskate as they are pulled around at 18 to 20 miles per hour by a six-tower cable system. It is located on Joe Nuxhall Way in Joyce Park.
Kennedy said many parents with older kids ask if their younger kids can try it.
“The big cable, it’s just too much for them,” he said. “It’s already moving when they start it and it just yanks them too hard.”
At the end of the park’s parking lot, and adjacent to the south of the main lake, a detention pond is planned to be converted into “the Practice Pond.” It will also serve as a retention pond.
The pond’s cable system will move at a slower speed, providing an easier learning environment. Starting docks will be at opposite ends of the pond, which Kennedy said allows more practice opportunities.
Once permits are filed, Kennedy said it will take a couple months to construct and a week to fill. Eight parking spots will be sacrificed, but there will still be plenty of parking.
Kennedy wouldn’t say exactly, but said “thousands” of people tried the park in its first year, and many more came to spectate.
“I think we did in our first year what a typical cable park does in their third or fourth year,” said Kennedy, who anticipates 35 percent growth in 2010.
When Kennedy approached the city about the business concept, Fairfield Economic Development Manager Greg Kathman admitted that at first he didn’t fully understand the concept.
“It took me and everyone else in the office some time to totally understand it,” he said. “And then you never know once you put a product like that out there.”
Wake Nation is one of seven cable water parks in the country, and most are in Florida and Texas.
“The Practice Pond” is expected to be finished by April 15. For details, call (513) 887-9253 or visit wakenation.com.
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.
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