Here I am in a city that snows 6 months out of the year (or more - we're at 70+ inches so far this year) that doesn't have a whole lot of "indoor" stuff for little kids to do. Well, folks, that is about to change!!! An indoor playground is planned as part of a much larger Parks and Rec project here in Bismarck!!!
There has been lots of talk about creating a ginormous Aquatics and Wellness Center for years, and it has been at the top of the lists of things the citizens of Bismarck want - the park board is finally putting this desire into action!
From perusing the park board website (www.bisparks.org) I gather these to be the high points of the new facility:
- 50 meter (Olympic sized) pool with room at one end for a diving well (I'm thinking platform diving!)
- 25 yard separate, warmer pool for lessons and leisure - may someday have a waterslide, but not yet :(
- easy viewing of both pools from the deck and TONS of seating above
- family changing rooms (yay!) and neato womens/mens locker rooms
- an INDOOR PLAYGROUND directly adjacent to the leisure/lesson pool - looks like parents can simultaneously watch a kid at swimming lessons (through the window) and watch little ones on the playground by sitting in the raised portion just at the top of the ramp into the playground (super-convenient!)
- lobby/lounge near the playground - I'm thinking mini coffee shop type
- Upstairs, a 6000 sq ft wellness center (work out while your kid swims lessons!)- Aerobics/dance studio upstairs (maybe they'll have mommy/baby classes someday!)
- Concessions and store upstairs (swimwear, perhaps?) - hope they'll have WiFi!
Seriously, this sounds like a great building, and could really bring some big events to Bismarck. OK, swimming doesn't sound like the most exciting sport, but from having attended a Zone meet in the past, all they'd have to do is get one Zone (or bigger!) swim meet here to bring in, literally, hundreds of swimmers and their families for a week - who, by the way, need a place to stay, restaurants to eat in, and will probably do some shopping! Hello, local economy stimulus!
But, nearest and dearest to my heart, of course, is the indoor playground - I've tried out a few in the Cities area, and it's a great place to run off steam and get the kids some exercise during the winter months (which can get seriously loooooong!).
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