Archive

Council clears way for waterslide on Broadway

February 10, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to turn part of Broadway into a giant waterslide? If you’re one of the people who has, and even if you haven’t, that idea will be turned into a reality this summer. Thanks to 365 Sports, a company that began in Orangeville before moving to Blue Mountain and becoming a nationwide success, a 1,000-foot slide will be lining the main street in July.

The concept of ‘city’ slides has grown in popularity over the last few years, but began to rise in popularity once Slide the City began to move north and crossed the Canadian borders. But why should one U.S. company have all the fun? After 365 Sports obtained the go-ahead to move forward with their own slide, they began marketing the Urban Slide, a way to bring this new, popular event to more locations in Canada, and help raise funds for local communities.

“These events cost the town no money, raise funds for local charities and organizations, and allow all residents to have a great day,” explained Jesse Fulton, one of the founding members of 365 Sports. “That’s what keeps us happy, making sure we can run a successful business in Canada and making sure we can give back to the communities is a major focus of that.”

When 365 Sports was created, in partnership with two other Orangeville residents and Mr. Fulton, it was to create a multi-sports facility in conjunction with the Alder Street Recreation Centre. But when the Humber lands deal fell through, and the post-secondary institution announced their intention to stay a  longer at the rec centre, the business shifted to focus more on events and marketing.

“One day, I still will build that facility,” promised Mr. Fulton in an interview Tuesday evening.

Urban Slide is only one of many events the company has been taking to Canadians across the nation. They are the brains behind the 5k Foam Fest ‘funcore’ runs, the Gromination Ski and Snowboard Festival, the former Icarus Skate/Snow Throwdown in O-Town events, and more.

With each event, they partner with either a local group or organization to help support them through proceeds. Although it hasn’t been announced who will benefit in Orangeville, there have been discussions with groups like the Rotary Club.

“It can be stressful, but it’s also a really fun job at the same time,” said Mr. Fulton. “Being able to do this and raise funds for organizations that need it, that’s important. A wise man once told me that it’s not what you have while you’re here, but the wake you leave when you are gone.”

Last week, Mr. Fulton spoke with Orangeville Council regarding the proposed event, providing information on proposed locations and dates. Part of the proposal included the possibility of hosting it in conjunction with Ribfest, although no official discussion had been had between 365 Sports and the Rotary Club at that point. The locations being considered included Alder Street, First Street and Broadway.

“This being our first year with the slide, we decided to keep it in Ontario,” Mr. Fulton explained to council. “The Urban Slide is a great event, includes lots of physical activity and a high economical impact for the hosting community. Rather than going to major cities, we wanted to go to smaller municipalities, where a community could rally around the event, and the event rally around the community.”

With his history in Orangeville, he felt this would be a perfect community to host it in. And Mayor Jeremy Williams must have thought so as well, as the whole process to work with the town and bring the issue before Council started from a single phone call to the Mayor.

“He helped align us with the right people and put it together, because he felt [the event] would bring value to the community,” said Mr. Fulton.

Mayor Williams expressed his support of the event at Council, as well as the depths 365 Sports goes to in order to ensure it is a safe, fun event for everyone.

“We don’t often see these cool, interesting things come to us, and sometimes they come with a concern for safety and liability,” said Mayor Williams. “I am blown away with the level of effort [365 Sports] goes to — everything from lifeguards to engineers, making sure there is a safe flow of water. This is a big event and it costs us virtually nothing.”

The Urban Slide that 365 Sports has procured is a 1000 ft slide with three lanes, and typically sees 6000 people in attendance. The slide can handle two to three people per lane at a time, spaced out to a safe distance, with a slide pool at the bottom where lifeguards monitor it throughout the day. People come to slide within their assigned ‘heats’, helping keep it fair and move people along throughout the day.

“It’s a great interactive, social, and fun day,” said Mr. Fulton. “The event is massive, and when we bring it to a community one of the perks is people don’t have to travel to make it. It’s just the fun of it all — being outside, socializing, getting some exercise.”

Safety is a major component for the event, and along with going the distance on their end to increase safety. For each event they obtain a series of permits from both the Town, as well as the TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority), and their slide has been custom engineered to fit all of the TSSA’s needs and conditions.

And while the event will go on rain or shine, Mr. Fulton assured Council they are prepared to handle just about anything.

“If there is lightning, we take proper protocol,” he explained. “We also work with a group which brings in a satellite emergency team. [They] work with local ambulance and emergency services to make sure we are operating safely. Public safety is our number one priority, especially when it comes to little kids, big slides and lots of people.”

Although no official decisions regarding a date or where the group would have to host the slide were made, Council voted last Monday to allow the event to occur. Following the meeting, Mr. Fulton and his team met with the Rotary Club, Town staff and the BIA to work out the details, and a date was set for Saturday, July 23.

“We were initially looking at the 16th to align with Ribfest, but there were some concerns on the Rotary Club’s part that an event of this size could dilute theirs, which we don’t want to do,” said Mr. Fulton. “We want their event to be a success.”

365 Sports still has to work with the Town to co-ordinate and solidify the date from that end, but plans are currently in the works to run the slide from the base of the Orange Lawrence Statue to just before the Tim Horton’s driveway on Broadway.

“We’re blown away with the support we have had from Council and the Town’s Event’s Committee,” Mr. Fulton said in his interview with The Citizen. “Thanks to the Mayor and Councillor Kidd, and everyone who has supported us, we received unanimous votes from Council. We deal with lots of different councils in different municipalities for all our events, and it’s always great to see a community in line with doing awesome things within it.”

Advance passes are available for purchase at http://www.theurbanslide.ca/, where costs range from a starting rate of $10 per person for a single slide, up to $150 for a ride all day family pass. More information about the event is also available on their website.

“At the end of the day, everybody wins, especially in the town,” said Mr. Fulton. “It’s like the reward at the end of the chore. It’s everything you want in a sunny day of fun. The sheer size of it and it being a new thing — that’s the attraction to it; it’s a unique event. The all ages component is a good thing to do. As a parent always looking for fun things to do with my kid. This would fall into that category.”

By Tabitha Wells

Readers Comments (0)