Riverside Riverslide, formerly known as the Riverside Family Aquatic Center, will be open this summer season. The facility at Riverside Park now features a lazy river and several 30-foot tall slides, in addition to the swimming pool.
After being closed last year for construction, Moline Parks and Recreation has completed the nearly seven million dollar project. An additional two and a half million dollars went towards updating the facility's parking, as well as revamping the park's tennis and pickleball courts.
Director of Parks and Recreation, Eric Griffith, says the project has been in the works for over 20 years. The original pool was built in 2003. He says it's the only pool in the area to have both a lazy river and a splash pad.
"So there's a fountain down at Bass Street Landing, but this is the first interactice splash pad with a bunch of different spray features and a dump bucket," Griffith said. "The lazy river is really exciting because it's not just a float around. It's going to be one of those things that in the mornings and evenings when we have swimming lessons that people can water walk. Water walking is a huge thing for an older population. They can walk against the curbs, and it's a really good exercise for them."
Members of the Two Rivers YMCA in Rock Island can use the pool for free as a part of their membership.
Griffith says the Riverside Riverslide is set to open by the end of this month.
