Willow Springs was a

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

located in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. It closed for swimming in July 2013. The park subsequently re-opened for fishing but not swimming. It closed permanently in August 2015.

History & description

It was built in 1928. Willow Springs is a sandy bottom spring and well fed lake, similar to

Maywood Beach Maywood Beach was a water park located in Olive Branch, Mississippi, just across the Mississippi state line from Memphis, Tennessee. History It was opened by Maurice and May Woodson on July 4, 1931. The Woodsons were Memphians who were looking f ...

in Mississippi. Unlike most water parks, visitors could bring their own food and drinks into the park, though a restaurant called Upper Deck Café was located on site.

Season

Willow Springs was open from May through September each year.

Amoebic meningitis outbreak and closure of the park

On July 26, 2013, the owner of the park shut it down indefinitely after a swimmer was diagnosed with amoebic meningitis, 3 years after another swimmer at the park died from the same infection. The Arkansas Department of Health determined that the park may have been at higher risk because the water is shallow and heats up faster (as the causative parasite is somewhat

thermophillic A thermophile is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though they can be bacteria or fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the ea ...

). The owner had hoped to re-open the park if it would have been financially feasible to cover the bottom with concrete, since the

protist A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the exc ...

that causes the disease tends to live in the soil at the bottom of lakes.

Attractions

*Family Atmosphere *400 ft

Waterslide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of Playground slide, slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides re ...

*Large Kiddie Pool and Playground Area *Lifeguards on Duty *Two Log Roll and Water

Trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

s *Lifejackets Available *Covered Picnic Tables and Grills *Group pricing available *

Water basketball Water basketball is a water sport, which mixes the rules of basketball and water polo, played in a swimming pool. Teams of five players each must shoot at the goal with a ball within a certain time after gaining possession. History In the Nethe ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and

Tetherball Tetherball is a game where two players use their hands to strike a volleyball which is suspended from a stationary metal pole by a rope or tether. The two players stand on opposite sides of the pole, and each tries to hit the ball one way; one ...

*Swimming Lessons Available *Horseshoe Pits *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

areas

References

{{reflist 1928 establishments in Arkansas Water parks in Arkansas Buildings and structures in Little Rock, Arkansas Tourist attractions in Little Rock, Arkansas 2013 disestablishments in Arkansas