Community invited to celebrate Alpine Aqualand’s first birthday party

20 May 2009 - Sophie

Lakes Leisure is inviting the Wakatipu community to come and enjoy three fun-filled days of festivities over Queen’s Birthday weekend (30 May – 1 June) to help celebrate Alpine Aqualand’s first birthday.

There’ll be free hydro-slide rides, gigantic inflatable fun, movie screenings of Ice Age I and II for the kids on Monday and, for those that get in early enough, a free slice of giant birthday cake which has kindly been donated by New World supermarket.

Lakes Leisure CEO Fiona McKissock says it’s been a huge year and the staff are looking forward to the celebrations.

“We’d love everyone to come and join in the fun,” she says.

“We’d really like to thank the community for their support over the past year. –We have had a few teething problems, however that’s bound to happen to a degree when you open a facility of this size and complexity,” she says.

“I believe we’ve learned a lot and we’re looking forward to making sure the community has the best facility possible to cater to its needs.

“In particular we’re really excited about new developments like the gym – it’s another major step forward to ensure maximum use of the Frankton site for fitness and fun,” she says.

The $18 million Frankton-based swimming facility first opened its doors to the public on May 31st 2008 after nearly 11 years of planning, consultation and development.

Since then, approximately 130,000 swimmers have come through the door, contributing to the more than one million visitors who have visited the Queenstown Events Centre complex since it first opened in 1996.

Alpine Aqualand patrons take part in a variety of activities such as Toddler Time, masters swim and aqua fit classes, swim ‘boot camps’ and the New World Wakatipu Aquatic Education and Learn to Swim programmes.

Lakes Leisure Facilities Manager Cam Sheppard says demand for the facility has exceeded his expectations.

“I’m really thrilled to see the number of regulars who keep coming through the doors, and it’s great to see how proud people are of Alpine Aqualand. We’ve seen a lot of swim meets, the start of numerous new community programmes, huge demand for our Toddler Time programmes, and we still have a number of other new initiatives in the pipeline.”

Lakes Leisure will hold a private event on Thursday 28 May to thank key parties involved in the establishment of the aquatic facility. They include members of the original Pool 2000 Trust, Queenstown Events Centre Trust, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Pool Working Party, Central Lakes Trust, and the Community Trust of Southland and Aurora.