Page 3 - Spirit of Cabot July 2016

THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRATGAZETTE • SPIRIT OF CABOT SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 3SS
ACTIVITIES
WILLIAM HARVEY/THREE RIVERS EDITION
Left: Justin Carnes, left, 13, and Jared Carnes, 12, take a trip down the large red slide at the Cabot Aquatic Park. Right: Larissa Turley holds onto her son Ty Turley, 13 months, as they slide together in the tube slide in the kiddie section of the Cabot Aquatic Park.
Making a splash AQUATIC CENTER OPEN FOR FUN, NEW IMPROVEMENTS
By Cody Graves
SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER
The new Cabot Aquatic Park opened May 26 and has become a popular destination for the residents of the city and beyond. “It’s a cool and refreshing place to spend your hot sum-
mer days,” said Travis Young, director of Cabot Parks and Recreation.
Boasting a variety of features, the Cabot Aquatic Park, at 1245 Bill Foster Memorial Highway, is a state-of-the- art facility that offers several features that are unique to the area.
One of the park’s pools is known as the Lazy River Pool.This pool features a wavy oval shape with an island.A gentle current pushes swimmers along the pool’s course. The island section of the pool has a canopy for people watching, and an outcropping at one end allows swimmers to take a break from the lazy river without getting out of the water.Those looking for a higher-speed adventure can check out the park’s two water slides. Located in
the park’s center pool, these two slides offer different experiences. One has an open design, while the other is closed.
The third pool offers swimmers many options.This pool has a three-lane lap pool, a zero-depth-entry area and a general swimming area.
This pool also features a water play structure created by a company called SplashTacular.The play structure features fountains and slides.The pool also has a two- person family slide and a structure with water dump buckets. Another unique feature at the Cabot Aquatic Park is its indoor, air-conditioned party room.The facility has several packages available for parties that can be hosted under the park’s pavilions or cabanas or inside the air-conditioned room. Par ty packages include a two-hour rental, 20 park admissions and a discount meal option.
An expansion is also underway at the Veterans Park Community Center, 508 N Lincoln St. The center, which was built in 2006, is home to Parks and Recreation offices, along with an indoor pool, multiuse basketball courts, a walking trail, fitness rooms and more.
The current construction will add a community tornado safe room, additional fitness and aerobic areas, a racquetball court and a child care room.
The child care room will be especially beneficial to parents, who will be able to bring their kids to the facility, take a class and not have to worry about finding a sitter. The charge for the child care room will be $2 an hour, Young said.
Overall, the new community-center expansion will add about 30,000 feet to the center,Young said, and will cost about $5.3 million.
The Parks and Recreation Department also recently added a new sports complex with nine baseball fields and two softball fields.The new fields will help the department with its municipal sports leagues and also help attract tournaments, which will help bring in visitors to the area, he said.The complex recently hosted two of the largest tournaments in the state, a municipal district league tournament and an American Legion tournament. The baseball/softball complex cost about $7.6 million and is at 1245 Bill Foster Memorial Highway.