Detail of new Waterpark murals
The property originally began as a massive public investment in recreation, led by Salt Lake City's mayor Ted Wilson in 1978. Wilson proposed that the city build a large wave pool as an attraction for the city's residents. By 1982, however, Mayor Wilson was requesting that the city forgive the $450,000 debt that had been incurred from the construction of the project (1).
The city council decided to pitch the idea of a water slide park to private investors as an extension to the city's wave pool (2). Over the next few years 6 million dollars was invested in the construction of waterslides and expansions to the property (3). Despite the original company leaving a management position in 1995, the park maintained the Raging Waters name for an additional 14 years as other companies stepped in to manage the property, continuing to make improvements to the facilities such as additional slides and a kids' play area (4)(5).
Most recently, Seven Peaks, an entertainment company managing the popular Seven Peaks Waterpark in Provo and multiple fun centers stepped in to acquire the park. The first year of operations focused on improvements to the infrastructure of the park (5). The brand strategy was also developed, which gave the Salt Lake waterpark a tropical oasis theme.
“The original blue color scheme of the park felt too cold to properly represent the warm tropical rainforest theme that we had adopted, so we replace the blue turf around the wave pool and completely redesigned the murals on the park’s building structures to be more in line with our tropical rainforest theme,” said Gary Brinton, CEO of Seven Peaks.
Roger Whiting Murals & Illustration was chosen as the artist/company to design and create the new look. The design was sketched onto the wall with spray paint and slowly painted in by brush. After nearly 250 hours of work and a crew of five people, Whiting is nearing completion on the 2500 square-foot design.
Says Whiting, "One of my main goals in redesigning the water park is to emphasize that it is no longer simply a pool or even a waterslide park, but part of a chain of theme-based amusement parks. Bold, consistent color themes and large interactions of shapes are the unifying visual elements among the myriad tropical plants and creatures. Fun, cute, and professional are the three main characteristics I wanted to achieve."
Brinton was very happy with the result saying, “Whiting’s mural was an incredible value and the end result exceeded our expectations.”
__________________
Additional pictures of the murals can be see at the artist's website: http://www.rogerwhiting.com/
___________________
What: Artist finishes new 2500 square-foot painted mural design for Seven Peaks Salt Lake City
When: Monday October 8 9:00am-2:00pm
and Wednesday October 10 9:00am-2:00pm
Where: Seven Peaks Waterpark
1200 W 1700 S
Salt Lake City, UT
Contact:
Roger Whiting - Owner of Roger Whiting Murals & Illustration
Designer and Lead Painter of New Murals
(801) 707-3580 murals@rogerwhiting.com
Sources:
1. Deseret News May 19 1982 pg 2T "Wave pool may be expanded" http://news.google.com/
2. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH SEP. 6 1983 http://www.slcinfobase.com/
3. Deseret News Dec. 1 1994 "RAGING WATERS BRINGS TROPICS TO UTAH" Brooke Adams, Staff Writer. http://www.deseretnews.com/
4. Deseret News Aug. 16 1996 "LAGOON, RAGING WATERS ADD FEATURES" Ivan M. Lincoln, Theater Editor. http://www.deseretnews.com/
5. Salt Lake Tribune Feb. 15 2011 "Seven Peaks takes over Salt Lake City water park" http://www.sltrib.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
