Colorado Town Solves a Whale of A Pool Problem!

August 27, 2010

“PLAYTIME made us this colorful slide that looks like a coral reef, which the kids just love,” says Paul Kulik, Aquatics Coordinator for the Town of Silverthorne. But, he adds, “The funny thing is that we constantly have to kick the parents off of it. We blew the whistle at a parent just this morning.”

Fifteen years ago, when the town of Silverthorne, CO decided to construct an indoor recreational pool, they knew they wanted a big slide. A very big slide.

They installed “Silvy,” a tremendous concrete whale who “spit” children out of her mouth into the pool. Once she was installed, they constructed the new building around her. She was that big.

Understandably, Silvy became a community icon. Over the years, she was painted different colors and residents fondly referred to her in common conversation. She was like family.

Sadly, though, Silvy reached the end of her functional life and the town of Silverthorne knew that they needed to replace her with something special.

“It was kind of traumatic to remove her,” recalls Paul Kulik, Aquatics Coordinator for Silverthorne. “We had to take her out in pieces through the doors.”

Kulik set himself on a mission to offer the community something colorful, fun and iconic, though probably not as big. He found what he was looking for when he found the artists at PLAYTIME, LLC.

“They made this colorful slide which has aquatic sea life on it – fish, sea horses, coral fans. It symbolizes what a coral reef is: full of life,” he says.

The new slide was designed and manufactured by PLAYTIME, LLC. It was opened to the public in early June.

Kulik admits that people initially seemed sad when Silvy was gone, but that now everyone is excited to have a new slide. As a nod to their favorite whale, the town held a naming contest and chose “Silvy’s Reef” for the new slide.