The Manteca Waterslides 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 bare ...
that existed in the
Central Valley town of
Manteca, California
Manteca (Spanish for "lard") is a city in San Joaquin County, California. The city had a population of 83,498 as of the 2020 census.
History
Manteca is a city in the Central Valley of California, located east of San Francisco. It was fou ...
from 1974 to 2004. Founded by R.H. "Budge" Brown, the park enjoyed status as one of the better waterparks in the United States and had easy access to
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
. Also known as Oakwood Lake, it was familiar to central valley park-goers for its massive drop-down slide "V-Max".
In the summer of 2004, it was announced that the park would be closed. The owners of the park cited high
workers' compensation
Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
and health care costs as reasons for the park's closure in September 2004.
As of April 2008, the site of the old waterpark lies underwater due to the expansion of Oakwood Lake and the surrounding land is being proposed for development which would provide housing for, among other people, commuters to the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...
.
In 2010, there was talk of a developer buying the land bringing back the water park.
[ ]
Manteca Waterslides was home to
Oakwood Lake Amphitheatre, a venue primarily used for concerts.
See also
*
List of water parks
References
* ''It's Slip Sliding Away'', Manteca Bulletin, September 27, 2004.
* ''Going out of work: Loss of summer jobs saddest part of Manteca Waterslides taking its last ride''. Stockton Record, May 28, 2004.
External links
* Facebook grou
The late and great Oakwood Lake Employees
{{coord missing, San Joaquin County, California
Water parks in California
Buildings and structures in San Joaquin County, California
Defunct amusement parks in California
1974 establishments in California
2004 disestablishments in California