Conceptual drawing shows the contractor’s design for the new waterslide at Drumheller’s Aquaplex. The contractor has informed the Town the slide’s  colours will be an orange red called Vermillion, and light blue and some pebble grey as well.

    The new waterslide for Drumheller’s Aquaplex is on its way....sort of.
    Allan Kendrick with Infrastructure Services for the Town of Drumheller said the outside foundations for the waterslide have been completed by the contractor, and he’s been notified one piece of the new waterslide is enroute across the Atlantic Ocean, on its way from the manufacturer in Turkey.
    Once the bill of lading and the rest of the components catch up, the Town’s waterslide will be able to clear Canadian Customs. The port of entry and the time frame required for the waterslide to clear customs are unknown at this point.
    Kendrick said review of the design for the waterslide itself was completed in a timely fashion.
    “The only thing we waited an extensive period of time on was the engineering and design on the footings.”    
    In addition, he was notified the manufacturer was moving from one plant to another during its construction of Drumheller’s waterslide.
    He said the Town has had to spend additional time, pushing and prodding for updated information from the contractor and manufacturer.
    The waterslide was originally scheduled for delivery in September, said Mayor Terry Yemen, but Town Administration had to renegotiate the waterslide contract, as the way the contract was originally written wasn’t in the Town’s best interest.
    “It wouldn’t have been responsible spending on the part of the Town of Drumheller,” Yemen explains.
    He said it was quite a lengthy process for Administration  to get the contract revisions, and they had discussed the issue at a Council meeting late summer, after Council had approved awarding the waterslide contract to Pearl Rose Construction/Aquatics by Westwind at their June 16 regular Council meeting.
    The Town’s options were limited, explains the Mayor, because Pearl Rose/Aquatics by Westwind was the single contractor that showed interest in Drumheller’s new waterslide project.
    “We can’t force people to bid on these things. There was only one company that bid on it. Hence, our dilemma.”
    “We could have put it out again and started the (tender) process all over, but then it could have been even slower,” he adds.
    “It’s certainly taking a lot more time than we anticipated,” the Mayor said.
    “Things are moving in the right direction - they’re just moving slowly.”