Silver Mountain plans water park

Silver Mountain unveiled drawings Monday for a multilevel water park, scheduled to open in December of 2006.

Company officials will break ground at 4 p.m. today on the 55,000-square-foot facility in Kellogg, located adjacent to the ski resort’s gondola. Excavation will start later this month.

The water park would be built with a mountain-lodge type exterior, and will include slides, a wave pool, indoor and outdoor swimming areas, and other features.

“These are really popular in the Midwest,” said Stephen Lane, Silver Mountain’s marketing director. “The park itself will be a destination.”

Lane envisions the year-round water park pulling in tourists traveling by on nearby Interstate 90, as well as providing Silver Mountain’s skiers and local residents with another recreation activity.

The water park would be the fourth in North Idaho. Silverwood Theme Park near Athol operates a 12.5-acre outdoor water park during the summer months. Wild Waters in Coeur d’Alene also has an outdoor water park, and Triple Play in Hayden is adjacent to a hotel with an indoor facility.