New slides make positive impact at Holton pool

Recent oppressive heat drove several young people in Holton to the city’s municipal swimming pool, where kids of all ages took advantage of a pair of water slides in their quest to keep cool that day.

One of them was nine-year-old Jaxon Miller of Holton, who took turns going down each of the slides, a recent addition to the pool.

“They’re really fun! We’re really happy to have them,” Miller said of the slides, which he added provides him with opportunities to go down differently each time.

Eleven-year-old Graysen Aubert of Holton, joining Miller in using the slides that afternoon, agreed, saying the two slides were a great addition to the pool. And when the two youngsters were asked which slide they liked best, their answer was the same: “Both!”

It’s a common reaction to the slides, according to pool manager Jessica Rogers, who noted that kids of all ages have been enjoying them since their addition to the pool in early June.

“We had a pool party here with six and eight-year-olds not too long ago,” Rogers said. “They were on them nonstop that night. It’s definitely added another important piece to the pool to make it a little bit more competitive with some of the other pools that aren’t that far of a drive from us.”

Rogers also estimated that the slides have given Holton’s pool a slight uptick in admissions this summer, but according to pool records provided by the City of Holton, total ticket sales for this year’s pool season — which ends Saturday, Aug. 10 — have yet to catch up with last year’s total.

Installation of the slides — a 10-foot-tall “vortex” slide and a smaller, seven-foot-tall “helix” slide, purchased from S.R. Smith Equipment of Canby, Ore., at a total cost of $42,732 — has been an ongoing goal of Holton city officials and Holton Parks and Recreation Director Mike Reichle, who said earlier this year that he wanted to have at lease one of the slides in place before the pool opened for the 2024 summer season.

There was just one catch, Reichle noted — the slides required 50 gallons of water per minute to keep the slide surfaces wet for those who use them, and he didn’t want to use a steady supply of city water for that. Reichle and his crew set up a pump to recycle water from the pool for the slides, but even getting that pump going was difficult.

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