Residents React to News of Possible Shadow Cliffs Waterslides Closure

The longtime Shadow Cliffs waterslides may soon be removed from the area as an East Bay Regional Park committee has recommended shutting down the popular warm-weather activity.

Check out what Patch readers are saying in response to the news:

It's a shame that they could not come up with the funding for this especially when looking at the waste of taxpayers money on what has to be a multi-million dollar "bridge to nowhere" beautification project, (including park benches every 30 yards or so to marvel at the lovely traffic whizzing by), on Stanley Blvd. Yeah, bigger government is what every city, town, state and nation needs! —Paul Talley

Totally disappointed. My kids really enjoyed the slides for a couple years there. —Kim Guidice

Please don't give up finding the solution to getting the slides fixed and working. I agree with all of the above comments and don't see why it is such a big deal to get the slides fixed and operating. The revenue that they got was not in the red to operate. Please put our tax dollars to good use and get this project done so we can enjoy the slides again. They were unique to our area and were enjoy by many including many members of my family. My kids and now my grandkids were enjoying them and are disappointed and unhappy that they are closed. I had hope that this problem could be worked out. Why are so many other things around here more important. —Julie

I would have liked the chance to take my kids there. They are just at the age for that now, it would have been a great summer activity for them. I would really like to see more family activities in our parks; we have a lot of nice big patches of green that aren't used for very much. —Joe Granada

I am totally disappointed that we could not keep the waterslides open. I know people came as far away as Concord to use this park, while the parents went to do shopping in the area. It was a wonderful area for teen activity. Now they will seek entertainment and shopping activities else where. —Ron Chambers

I think that the waterskides are a landmark and a vital local institution and hope that someone will find a way to get them back up and running again. —Mike Carpenter

As an ardent supporter of the water slides, I am extremely disappointed. However, I'm not surprised. After reading the assessment of the current condition and the requirements to bring the slides up to code, I realized that it would take significant effort and expense for anyone to come in and make the necessary repairs and upgrades. The costs, combined with the fact that the revenue potential was limited, left very little opportunity for investment from an outside entity.

If the slides are ever to be reopened, we will need to find a new funding source. Either a public agency (county, city) or possibly a tax levy of some kind. At this point in time, it’s unlikely that either could occur before the EBRPD removes them.

As for EBRPD, I believe that they did exactly what was asked. They listened to the community; they postponed the decision; they hired a third party to perform an assessment; they issued an RFP and considered responses. In the end, there isn’t much more that we can ask of them.

So what’s next? Maybe we need to go the way of Livermore, or Fremont, or many other cities and find a way to build a new local water park of some kind, one suited for our area that has a solid funding mechanism.

Any volunteers to lead a new effort such as this? —Chuck Bierdeman

Join the conversation taking place in the comments section of our previous post or share your thoughts on the news in the comments section below.