Giant waterslide coming downtown for fundraiser

The waterslide is coming back to Springfield – but just for a day.

Popular in Springfield in the 1990s, South Campbell Avenue used to house multiple family-friendly waterslides. Now, the Downtown Springfield Association is reliving the glory days by turning the Boonville Avenue hill into a one-day waterslide.

A fundraiser for downtown Springfield and Route 66 projects as coordinated by the city of Springfield, the DSA has teamed up with Slide the City for the July 16 event. Slide the City – a branch of Salt Lake City-based Sack Lunch Productions, which also coordinates Springfield’s Color Me Rad 5K slated for September – will transform the street with thick vinyl sheeting starting at Park Central Square and running 1,000 feet down Boonville. All participants use an inflatable tube to slide.

"The city was approached by organizers; this market was on their radar," said DSA Executive Director Rusty Worley. "We suggested Boonville hill as an ideal site.

"There are generations of Springfieldians who remember parades and things on that hill. Plus, we can host most of the events on the square where we have the built-in infrastructure."

The Queen City is one of two Slide the City sites this summer in Missouri. The other is scheduled July 9-10 in St. Louis.

Online registration is open and participants can purchase a single ride or half-day or full-day slider passes during a selected ride time. Early bird registration pricing starts at $15 for a single slide and $120 for the friends and family pack, which includes four unlimited slide wristbands. Prices escalate as the event nears and participants must be 5 years old and 46 inches tall to ride.

Worley said the DSA will collect a percentage of net proceeds from the event, but no fundrasing goal has been set. 

"This is the first year, so we just want it to be a great experience," he said. "This isn't factored into any budgets, we just want to see how it goes. Hopefully, we can make this an annual event."

Slated to run 10 a.m.-7 p.m., the event also will include music, local vendors and more activities.

Slide the City stopped at 70 cities in 2015 and is on track for 100 events nationwide this year, according to a news release.