New Water Slide Stirs Ripples of Excitement

Too excited to sit, about a dozen boys stood in the hot sun by the edge of the pool pretending to listen as a procession of city officials took their turns at the microphone.

Finally, the speakers stopped talking, but the wait was still not over.

Before the boys would get their first crack at the city’s one and only public water slide, they would have to wait for Councilman Richard Alarcon and the other officials to take a test ride.

Power does have its privileges.

“I literally spent thousands of hours here when I was a kid. I learned how to swim in this pool,” said Alarcon, who took the ceremonial plunge Thursday as the city unveiled the water slide at Sun Valley Recreation Center.

The slide, which was shipped in pieces from the East Coast, is 16.5 feet high and 140 twisting feet long. With more than 800 gallons of water cascading over its fiberglass surface every minute, it can accommodate up to 240 rides an hour.

To ensure that every one of those rides is a safe one, three lifeguards oversee the slide: one at the top, another in the pool and a third at the stairway.

“This is the best deal in town,” said John Vowels, Valley aquatics director for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

“You’re not paying $20 to go to Raging Waters or someplace like that. It’s 75 cents for these kids to use the pool and $1.25 for adults. There is no extra charge to use the slide,” Vowels said.

The Sun Valley pool reopened one year ago after it was shut for nearly five years because of cracks and other damage. The slide, which cost about $96,000, was built with money left over from the $1.2-million reconstruction project, paid for with Proposition A funds, Vowels said.

“This is money well spent. It gives the kids something to do,” said Tony Alcala, who lives near the park. “Most of the residents of this area don’t have pools or even air conditioning, so the pool is very important.”

“I come here like every other day, so this will make it more fun,” 11-year-old Jimmy Diaz said as he prepared to get back in line for a second try. “The slide is really fast and it turns you around.”