THUNDER BAY — Gerry Champagne is feeling a lot better than he was 24 hours earlier about prospects for a successful first season for his new attraction at Boulevard Lake.
Champagne's inflatable Splish Splash Water Park opened for the first time last weekend.
But when the lake was unexpectedly drained by the opening of the Boulevard Dam gates between Sunday night and Monday morning, he was left worrying when he might be able to reopen.
It turns out that it will be sooner than Champagne had feared.
The water park, located in what he describes as the deepest part of the lake, will reopen on Wednesday.
Although it will take up to three weeks for the lake to refill to its normal level, Champagne said the water is deep enough where the giant inflatables are moored to resume operations safely.
Only the "bouncy pillow" attraction will remain closed for the time being.
Being able to reopen so soon comes as a big relief, he said Tuesday, "because yesterday morning it seemed like my lake flew away."
Champagne explained that it reminded him of the story cited in the motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes about a lake that suddenly disappeared.
As for who or what was responsible for draining Boulevard Lake by over a metre, he doesn't believe someone was out to hurt his business.
"Some people say it's vandalism, some people say it was a fluke...I don't know if you'll ever get a straight answer, because I don't think they really know."
The City of Thunder Bay currently has no surveillance cameras at the dam.
Director of engineering and operations Kayla Dixon has said "the most likely" explanation is that the gates were opened manually by an unauthorized person or group of people.
The city has asked anyone with information about the incident to contact city dispatch at 625-2195 or email publicworks@thunderbay.ca.
A spokesperson said Tuesday morning that the city had no update to provide at this time about the status of its investigation.
