Charters Towers council lock in New Year’s opening for long-awaited water park

A Charters Towers mum says her kids can’t wait for the new water park to open – even the 16 year old. Find out when it will happen.

The first water park in Charters Towers history is just weeks away from a grand opening, leaving local kids and holiday visitors on tenterhooks.

Charters Towers Regional Council predicts the $7.85 million water park will open in the early New Year.

Councillor Kate Hastie said she understood people were disappointed the water park couldn’t open in time for Christmas, but supply and labour shortages had slowed construction well past the original mid-2022 opening.

Charters Towers local Juwan Retchford said she lives pretty close to the new water park and her four children were very excited.

“It’s worth the wait,” Ms Retchford said.

“I’ve got kids of all ages and they are excited, even the 16-year-old is excited.”

Construction progress on November 3, 2022. The large play equipment, such as the slides and climbing frames, arrived in mid-2022 and will be set up once the concreting and landscaping is done.

Another local Marie Thomasson thought it was a good idea but was built in the wrong spot.

“I’ve been here 85 years and I’ve got 22 grandkids,” she said.

“I think the water park is in the wrong place, it’s off the highway, it’s a very unusual spot.”

Juwan Retchford with one-year-old daughter Semilea Retchford-McLean. The water park caters towards younger children, allowing them to play in a cool environment.

The water park is being constructed on Water Street behind the IGA, about 500m from the Charters Towers swimming pool.

Construction was initially delayed when some contaminated group was found on the site, then another delay hit the project as tradesman became scarce.

Mother-of-two Katie Dunlop said the water park has been a long time coming.

Resident Katie Dunlop said with free activities increasing in the Charters Towers region, more tourists will opt to stay overnight.

“They’ve been consulting for that since I was 15. I was in the first consultation group,” Mrs Dunlop said.

“When we go to Townsville for a day with the kids, we always plan around the Strand water park. Now people coming from Townsville will have something similar to do.

“There’s also a large percentage of Charters Towers people who moved away, but are coming back with their young families and buying houses because there are full-time jobs here now.”

State and Federal Government have committed $4.2 million towards the project.

Originally published as Charters Towers council lock in New Year’s opening for long-awaited water park