Company cancels 1,000-foot waterslide’s appearance in Spokane

Plans to set up a 1,000-foot waterslide that would have cooled thrill-seekers near Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena this weekend were scuttled because of safety concerns.

City officials confirmed Slide the City had submitted permits to operate the water attraction on Howard Street, between Boone and Mallon avenues, Saturday. But the Washington state Department of Health had not received any notification that the Utah-based company planned an event in Spokane and had concerns about plans the company submitted for the attraction in Richland.

“The date had been OK’d by the city already,” said Amy Gessel, a spokeswoman for the company that would have hosted the event. “Only after that did we get hiccups from the health department.”

Those hiccups were concerns about the amount of chlorine in the water that would power the attraction; the safety of young riders on a slide that would allow groups; and how the water was going to be treated before being reintroduced into the local system, said Marqise Allen, a spokesman for the Department of Health.

Some of those concerns were raised after a June event held in Pittsburgh. Riders there reported long wait times, injuries and being ignored when refunds were demanded. The company that puts on the event, Slide the City LLC, holds an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau.

The health department heard in February that organizers were planning events around Washington, Allen said. The department sent the company notification that it would need to review plans for the event before permits would be issued, which went unanswered until July, he said. The department’s concerns were sent back a few days later, and the company decided to cancel this year’s event instead of delaying again, Allen said.

The Seattle Times reported Wednesday that the company also canceled plans for Seattle and Richland.

Gessel said Slide the City learned from the Pittsburgh event. The company now sells tickets in “waves” in an attempt to alleviate overcrowding. The design of the slide also has changed to allow for smoother rides, she said.

“We’re making changes all the time,” Gessel said. No tickets were sold for the Spokane slide, and registration is only opened through the company’s website once all permits have been secured, she added.

The company says it will operate in 30 states and seven countries this summer. A grinning George Stephanopoulos introduced a glowing segment on the attraction during “Good Morning America” last month before dozens of audience members slid down a modified version of the slide in Times Square.

Slide the City has events planned in New York, Cincinnati and Billings this weekend, Gessel said. Many others, including events in Los Angeles and Kentucky, have been called off over safety concerns similar to those that gave the Washington Health Department pause. An event near Omaha, Nebraska, was well-attended late last month, according to local news accounts.

Both Gessel and Allen said they’re looking forward to working together next year to bring the event to Washington.