Swimmers in southwestern Ontario eager for relief from this week’s hot temperatures will finally be able to dive into Canada’s largest outdoor freshwater pool on Saturday, but there’s an additional reason to be excited about the opening of the Quarry in St. Marys this year.
One of the province’s most unique swimming spots is launching a new feature this weekend — an inflatable waterpark town officials have been eager to unveil since plans to install it were suddenly halted by the pandemic two years ago.
“There’s definitely been a buzz in the community,” said Stephanie Ische, the director of community services in St. Marys. “People are calling us from all over.”
The most noticeable addition to the Picturesque Quarry is a 14-foot inflatable tower swimmers can climb before diving in. The new SuperSplash Sports Park will also include a slide, monkey bars, a quarter-pipe and hurdles. Together, the obstacles look a little bit like a scaled-down version of the TV show Wipeout.
St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee spent some time on Wednesday enjoying the waterpark for the first time.
“What I really like is the fact that it’s something different,” he said. “We’re hoping it just adds a little bit of bang to the Quarry and a great family experience.”
The Quarry has, for generations, been a popular destination for both residents and visitors in St. Marys. Originally a limestone quarry that closed in 1920, it was converted into a public swimming area in the mid-1940s and, along with an adjacent quarry now used for fishing, has since become one of the community’s most popular attractions.
In an average year, the Quarry brings in about 20,000 visits from both locals and tourists primarily from southwestern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, Ische said. Before the pandemic, 800 people passed through the Quarry’s gates on the busiest summer days.
Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau famously flipped into the Quarry from a high diving board during a campaign stop in August 1968. Many an actor from the Stratford Festival has also made the 20-minute drive to swim there on a day off from the stage.
“It’s really unique,” Ische said. “There’s not something like this close by, either. You’re swimming in fresh water – it’s just a different experience.”
For local teenagers, meanwhile, the Quarry represents one of the best summer gigs in town.
“When we were kids in St. Marys, that was kind of the dream job,” Strathdee said. “It’s provided opportunity for a lot of people for years.”
Additions to the Quarry have been common in the past. A slide and trampoline were added a number of years ago, and the town more recently introduced paddle boards available to rent.
Besides its sheer size, what’s different about the waterpark is a third-party company is behind the project. SuperSplash Sports Park, the subsidiary of a numbered Ontario company owned by Patrick Jackson, signed an agreement with St. Marys in 2019 to lease space in the Quarry for the next five years.
“I think we have the market cornered in southwestern Ontario. Realistically, there’s not very many other ideal locations to install something like this,” he said. “I knew that southern Ontario had a very, very hot … environment and I knew that something like this would be ideal here.”
The waterpark’s inflatable features come from a manufacturer in Germany called Wibit Sports.
“They’ve been very, very successful in Europe and only in the past five or six years have they really kind of started to catch on here in North America,” Jackson said. “What I like about (them) is they’re … modular. You can create different configurations with them and you can change up the shape of your park at any time.”
Jackson opened a similar waterpark in Binbrook Conservation Area, near Hamilton, in 2018. Otherwise, the inflatables added to the Quarry over the past week are unique in the region and Strathdee hopes they help make St. Marys an attractive destination for tourists.
“Some of our other businesses have been hit pretty hard by the pandemic,” he said. “The Quarry is a valuable resource and it’s something that’s pretty special to the area. We’ve tried to add a few amenities to keep up with the times and modernize it a bit, and we think this is a further one that will be positive because it’s an activity that a family can participate in together.”
More conversations about the future of the Quarry are in the future at town hall. In the meantime, Ische said town staff are busy preparing for Saturday’s opening.
Interest has already been high inside and outside of town, she said. Ische recommends visitors check out the town’s website to book time at the Quarry before they arrive. Capacity at the new waterpark is 125 swimmers.
“I don’t want people to be disappointed … especially if they’re bringing a large party with them,” Ische said. “Saturday will be a busy day and it looks like nice weather, so that’s going to be even better.”