Raging Waters San Jose announces its closure: "Thank you for all the wonderful memories"
SAN JOSE — Raging Waters San Jose has been open for nearly 40 year, but it announced on its website that it's closing for good on Wednesday.
Ronit Prasad has been a lifeguard for the last three years. This year he was presented the Golden lifeguard award and had hoped to come back next summer.
But then Raging Waters San Jose posted an announcement on its website.
"I was a little surprised. A little taken back," Prasad said.
Prasad heard some chatter about Raging Waters in San Jose closing after the one in Sacramento shut its doors last year. But he wasn't prepared for this news Wednesday.
He added, "A lot of us don't know the reasons. It was all pretty sudden. There was no letting us know through official channels. We all found out through social media."
San Jose City Councilmember Domingo Candelas has fond memories of Raging Waters himself. As a representative of the district, he said the city was working with Palace Entertainment to come up with a vision for the future of Cunningham Lake.
He said, "This was year 39 of a 40-year lease that we had with the current operator, and we were actually in the process of coming up with an RFP for what kind of fun community amenity we can have in the area."
While there are rumors of potential projects to replace Raging Waters, Councilmember Candelas said right now all options are on the table.
"We have to be able to explore everything and anything. See our options open as a city. It can be a theme park. It could be another water park. I don't want to limit our thinking," he said.
The water park will not only be missed by those who floated on the river and dared to go down the scariest water slides but also by those it employed, especially local teens.
Prasad said, "Endless memories for me here. Countless memories for me here and all wondering, where are we going to go next."
The mayor said potential investors are already exploring new recreational uses for Lake Cunningham.