Bunker Beach Water Park is one of Minnesota’s largest outdoor water parks. The aquatic facility features a large wave pool, six towering waterslides, a 900-foot lazy river, a leisure pool with a climbing wall, a zero-depth entry pool with a water play structure, a creative sand play area and private cabanas. The park was originally constructed in 1988 as a wave pool facility and upgraded in three phases adding the remaining features. Over time the wave pool has become damaged beyond reasonable repair and required a full replacement.
This project was two-part: Counsilman-Hunsaker designed the wave pool replacement, and Nelson-Rudie designed the support facilities enhancement project. Both teams worked with Anoka County to coordinate design components throughout the park layout, which was critical to its success.
Our team assessed the existing buildings and mechanical and electrical systems, which were used to identify the scope in a schematic design narrative. The support facilities enhancement project involved many upgrades or replacements of park assets and two new structures (restrooms and maintenance support facilities). The new structures fill a need for family restrooms and changing rooms, as well as office space and storage in a maintenance building. Because the family restroom building is seasonal, drain valves and compressor plug connections were incorporated into the plumbing design for winterizing the building. The ventilation design for the wave pool generation room required a substantial inline fan exhausting 24,000 CFM, pulling the air through eight single vane drum louvers, allowing for the removal of significant amounts of heat. This project required the addition of a new 1600-amp 277/480V switchboard and new panel boards and transformers to assist the existing main 1200-amp switchboard.
