Padilla to Slide on New Pool Attraction

Councilman Alex Padilla is planning to take a 15-second plunge into Hubert Humphrey Pool next week to celebrate the addition of a popular water slide.

Swimmers sometimes wait 10 minutes to go down the three-story slide that makes two full circles and then dumps them into a four-foot-deep pool, said Carlos Espinoza, who manages the facility’s two pools during the summer.

Although riders must be at least 42 inches tall, some much-taller swimmers have given it a whirl.

“Once in a while, we’ll see curious adults climb the ladder and come down laughing,” Espinoza said.

“They tell us it’s cool.”

City recreation officials are using the slides to increase attendance at less popular pools, some of which are open year-round, as is the Hubert Humphrey Pool.

The water slides cost about $150,000. Those at the Sun Valley and Hollywood pools were funded by the city’s Recreation and Parks Department, and those at Humphrey Pool and Lanark Pool in Canoga Park were funded by Proposition K, a county measure approved by voters in 1996.

As many as 20 more slides are in the works, including a $240,000 double slide that will be installed this fall at Hansen Dam, financed by park bonds, said Richard Godino, aquatics director who supervises the city run pools in the Valley.

“The success of the slides has been pretty spectacular,” Godino said.

The celebration at Hubert Humphrey Pool featuring Padilla is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at 12560 Filmore St.