Ride the submarine
Shining Waters Family Fun Park in Cavendish adding new rides, creating more jobs in expansion
Shining Waters Family Fun Park in Cavendish adding new rides, jobs
Undersea adventures are coming to Shining Waters Family Fun Park in Cavendish.
One of the many rides Maritime Fun Group purchased from Crystal Palace in Moncton last year — the Crazy Submarine — should be open to the public sometime next week.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneer Bay Bullet roller-coaster, also from Crystal Palace, should be soaring above the grounds at Shining Waters in time for the 2016 summer season.
Maritime Fun Group, which owns and operates Shining Waters and Sandspit in Cavendish, received $300,000 in repayable financing from the P.E.I. government to augment the expansion and enhancement projects. That means government will get the money back.
Matthew Jelley, president of Maritime Fun Group, said the work also involves building a year-round maintenance facility on site and more jobs.
“We’re going to be extending some positions and adding year-round positions,’’ Jelley told The Guardian. “It’s going to allow us to do much more than previously possible.’’
It’s hard to provide exact numbers right now, but Jelley estimates it will create at least two full-time jobs and an additional 15 to 20 seasonal jobs.
The walls for the maintenance facility are already up. When it’s finished, it will play an integral role in assembling the roller-coaster.
That train-style coaster will slide along the track 27 feet above the ground and will encircle much of the park. It will also involve installing 53 beams in the ground to support the entire structure.
“We’ll start hauling in pieces of the roller-coaster by August and prepping them in our maintenance area. When the park closes in September, the Pirate Ship and some other things are going to be hauled out of the way so we can start digging foundation.’’
Everything will be put back and ready to go hopefully by the time the 2016 season rolls around.
It’s been quite a year of expansion for Maritime Fun Group, which has already purchased attractions in Cavendish such as Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Wax World of the Stars and Mariner’s Cove Miniature Golf. The group also opened a new arcade on the Sunset Boardwalk.
Two years ago, the group opened the large swimming pool at Shining Waters.
“For us, this is another investment in Cavendish.’’
There are no immediate plans for changes to Sandspit. One of the challenges there is that it’s surrounded by the National Park, leaving little room to expand.
“We have to get pretty creative. I would think over the next couple of years we’ll see some additions there and try to bring in something a little different.’’