This weekend, the Bathurst Aqua Park will be open for business.
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Work to install the inflatable water park has been under way for around five days, with staff putting in 12-hour days to get the facility ready.
To ensure that the park will be absolutely perfect, the opening date was pushed back a week later than initially intended.
Bathurst Aqua Park owner Michael Hickey said that the assembly process was going well, with hardly any hiccups.
VIDEO: A look at the progress of the aqua park at Chifley Dam ...
“It’s been awesome, no wind, it has been fantastic,” he said.
As of last Tuesday afternoon, there were still a couple of obstacles to be added to the structure, which already includes trampolines, swings and slides.
The kiosk has arrived and been put in place near the existing play equipment, but artificial grass still needs to be laid near the shoreline.
Thirty staff members have also been hired.
We’ll add new things, change things around each year. It will never be the same.
- Bathurst Aqua Park owner Michael Hickey
Mr Hickey said that the park had already put money into the economy, as nearly everyone involved was based locally.
“Everything is done by locals,” he said. “[The park] spends a lot of money in Bathurst because everything is sourced locally.”
Mr Hickey said the park will also help to increase safety of all all dam users across the months it is open.
First aid equipment, including a spine board and defibrillator, will be kept at the kiosk and available to anyone in the vicinity.
Mr Hickey said he couldn’t wait to see people out having fun when the park opens on Saturday, November 3.
“It will be good to see people come out and have a go,” he said.
The park is open to people aged four years and up, but kids under 12 must be supervised.
Bookings for birthday parties have already been made and Mr Hickey said a school group has plans to travel two hours to use the park.
MAP: Where is the aqua park located …
Bathurst Aqua Park will operate seasonally, open Thursday to Sunday every week between November 3 and March 31.
Operations will extend to seven days a week during the school holidays that fall in this period.
Mr Hickey said the park will be taken down after its season has finished and will be reassembled differently when it returns next.
“We’ll add new things, change things around each year. It will never be the same,” he said.
Some concerns have been raised about the park being located on the dam at a time when the water level is going down and there have been alerts for blue green algae.
Mr Hickey said, due to the location and way it is anchored, the inflatable park won’t be impacted by the water level, and the owners will act under the advice of council regarding algae.
“Algae, we are governed by council on that,” he said.
“They check it twice a week I think; if they close [the dam], then we will close too.”
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