They said a waterpark would never work in Northwest Indiana.
Boy, were they wrong.
When Lake County Parks and Recreation proposed building a waterpark, the critics rolled out their usual arguments: The county has no business owning or operating one. And just what the heck is a waterpark, anyway?
Today, Deep River Waterpark in Crown Point, Ind. has far exceeded expectations. Not only does it rank as one of the largest facilities of its kind in the nation, it is viewed by many as a model for other municipal waterparks to follow.
That’s due in part to Jim Basala’s leadership.
Sometime in the late 1980s, his boss tapped him to transform a soybean field into a 22-acre aquatics facility with slides and a lazy river — a fairly novel concept back then. Basala had been with the county parks department since 1977, beginning his career as a groundskeeper and working his way up several managerial roles.
To get his bearings, the forestry major from Purdue University attended the World Waterpark Association’s symposium, plunging him headlong into the world of design and operations.
“That was the one where I was sort of reticent because I’m a forestry guy,” Basala recalls. “Then I went to my first World Waterpark show and I was like, ‘I’m in!’ ”
The skeptics would eventually come around, too.
A feasibility study for the project grossly underestimated demand, figuring an annual attendance of around 140,000. When Deep River Waterpark opened in 1995, it saw 210,000 people pass through its turnstiles. “We just got blown out of the blocks,” Basala recalls of that first year.
As Deep River’s general manager, Basala oversaw the addition of several new attractions the following year and, in 2005, an expansion that effectively doubled its size.
From the beginning, Deep River was intended to run as a business. Whereas many municipal waterparks are money-losers, Basala insured that his facility actually turned a profit. Today, Deep River Waterpark contributes approximately 65% of the county’s parks budget, helping support programs such as nature hiking and conservation. “We’ve always been very aggressive and entrepreneurial in how we approach things,” says Basala, now CEO of Lake County Parks and Recreation.
Late last year, the WWA honored Basala with the Al Turner Commitment to Excellence award for his leadership in the industry and for serving on the association’s board for 10 years, most recently as past chairman.
Deep River continues to draw crowds. Recent seasons saw as many as 268,000 visitors.
They’re lining up even in the off season. Over the winter, park officials converted a portion of the facility into an ice-skating rink.
