Kids of Ramsey County, we have bad news and good news:
First, the bad news: Battle Creek Waterworks, that popular waterpark designed for younger kids and located within Battle Creek Regional Park, is temporarily closed (for the entire summer).
Now, the good news: The facility, to be renamed Battle Creek Waterpark, will reopen in 2026 after an approximately $4.7 million renovation and maintenance project that will incorporate some new features and amenities as well as updated mechanicals and more.
“We wanted to get the word out there about the closure and the excitement that is coming,” says Kristopher Lencowski, director of park operations for Ramsey County Parks and Recreation.
But what about this summer? For this corner of the metro, the niche waterpark is a popular spot for families to cool off, serving about 25,000 people over the course of those precious 10 weeks that Minnesota calls summer.
“Mostly, we’re directing people to the beaches,” Lencowski says.
Ramsey County has nine swimming beaches that officially open Memorial Day weekend, and St. Paul’s swimming beach at Phalen Regional Park is also an option. Another waterpark alternative is Como Regional Park Pool.
“It’s always painful to have a facility you know and love close for a certain amount of time,” Lencowski acknowledges.
However, after looking at issues and delays that could crop up in a more rushed timeline — think of any snafu you’ve seen when they start opening up walls on an aging structure on an HGTV show — Lencowski said it became clear they couldn’t take the chance.
“We said, ‘Let’s make sure we do it right,’” he said.
Construction is slated to begin soon.
A 25-year-old waterpark
Erin Roth of Vadnais Heights gives the 160-foot-long water slide a test at the Battle Creek Waterworks in Maplewood on May 17, 2000 during a preview before the park opened. (Joe Oden / Pioneer Press)
The waterpark opened in 2000, nearly 19 years after some sort of water facility was proposed for the area.
“Called the Battle Creek Waterworks,” the Pioneer Press wrote in a preview that year, “the $2 million facility is not a swimming pool. It is more of a water playground.”
Although “Waterworks” makes it sound like some sort of water treatment facility, it was named to highlight its focal point located within a shallow pool, a climbing structure with pipes and valves that could be used for water play.
The park was also designed to include a 35-foot-tall, 160-foot-long water slide that emptied swimmers into a 5-foot-deep plunge pool.
Plans for this attraction date to 1981, when the master plan for Battle Creek Regional Park was drawn to include water play for this southeast corner of the county, since the nine natural beaches are located on the northern end of Ramsey County.
The process sped up in the 1990s, when the county qualified for $2 million from the Metropolitan Council for the project.
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The first plan envisioned a sand-bottom swimming pool in the southern section of the park. That proposal, we reported, drew strong opposition from nearby residents and others, who said such a pool would infringe on the natural quality of that part of the 880-acre park. The pool, they said, would attract traffic and people to what basically is a passive part of the park.
After much public debate, the facility was moved to what park officials call “the activity area,” where there is a picnic pavilion and playground.
Although not all residents liked the move, Jody Yungers of the Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Division told the Pioneer Press in 2000 that the shift was a good one.
“Because the public spoke up, the design of the facility was changed, and we are ending up with a very attractive, fun facility in a very attractive setting,” she said.
The waterpark opened on May 27, 2000, with the Teddy Bear Band in attendance and a magic show in celebration. At the time, admission was $3.50. Currently $7, it will increase to $9 when the refreshed park reopens in 2026 (with “twilight” fees, or admission after 5 p.m., increasing from $5 to $7).
Potholes, rust and broken tiles
Tiles have fallen from pool, exposing the disintegrating concrete at Battle Creek Waterworks waterpark at Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The popular water fun gathering place will be closed for the 2025 season as it undergoes renovations. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
If you are following the waterpark signs to Waterworks at 2401 Upper Afton Road E., a road within Battle Creek Regional Park leads onto a bumpy parking lot of patching and potholes.
Signs alerting the public to the closure aren’t posted yet, but they will be soon.
For now, the low-slung building is empty and quiet — construction hasn’t started quite yet. The building itself is in pretty good shape, but the waterplay area is showing the need for a redo: Cracks in the concrete pool decking … broken pool tiles at the bottom of the empty pool … rust on some of the faded, aging play structures.
Pool chemicals and Minnesota winters, Lencowski says, can be tough on outdoor water parks.
Kristopher Lencowski, director of park operations with Ramsey County, talks about the updates the county will be making at Battle Creek Waterworks, located within Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The facility, to be renamed Battle Creek Waterpark, will reopen in 2026 after some updating and refreshing that will include new features and amenities. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“We found ourselves working harder and harder to catch up with the maintenance needs of the facility,” Lencowski said. “Every year, when they’d reopen the pool, there were tiles falling off the wall. The heaters for the pool, the interior parts of it were starting to get corroded so that was going to need to be replaced. There was starting to be rust on some of the columns. It just built up and built up.”
A plan was needed for the waterpark’s future.
“We did a feasibility study about three years ago,” Lencowski says. “And then two years ago, the Legislature had given us some modernization funds for the regional park system. And so that was really the capital we needed to get moving forward on it.”
The funding for the approximate $4.7 million project is coming from state general obligation bonds ($2.4 million); modernization funds, general fund ($1.3 million); and Legacy Amendment Parks & Trails funds, mostly for the parking lot ($1 million).
Ramsey County is partnering with Damon Farber Landscape Architects and Terra Construction on the project.
Updated, accessible and fun
Battle Creek Waterworks, located within Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The facility will be closed for the summer season, reopening in 2026 after some updating and refreshing that will include new features and amenities. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
So what’s changing?
In addition to the mechanical and surface updates, there will be more seating, more shade and more play options.
Some highlights of the project include:
Mechanical, pool, and play structure repairs
Energy and efficiency enhancements
New shaded seating areas and non-water play spaces
ADA accessibility upgrades
Parking lot repaving
Stormwater system repairs and upgrades
Currently, the water park’s pool deck opens up to a sandy play area to the left, with the focal point — the “Waterworks” play structure — at its center. The big waterslide with the deeper pool is to the right. There’s not much shade.
Now, picture next summer: The sandy play area — a messy option for pools — will be gone, replaced with playhouses and other non-water play options. The “Waterworks” play structure will be replaced (thus the need for a new name) and tiered seating will rise above the area, providing more seating and shade. There will be hammocks, too.
An architectural rendering shows what Ramsey County’s outdoor waterpark in Maplewood will look like after a remodeling and maintenance project that is keeping it closed for the 2025 season. (Damon Farber Landscape Architects / Ramsey County Parks and Recreation)
The deeper pool will include a ball play area for bigger kids and adults as well as the refurbished waterslide. There will also be a mural, created by a local artist (stay tuned).
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Be Graceful Bakery and Catering has provided concessions within Waterworks, but the food options are heading outside.
“We will now move food options outside the facility with food trucks in the parking lot,” Lencowski says. “That will be huge, because it can serve the whole park and you will be able to bring food inside the waterpark.”
They hope it’s worth the wait — especially for those about ages 12 and under and their families.
“It does have a nice niche in the Twin Cities, serving the younger demographic,” says Lencowski. “We know the closure will be impactful for people.”
Learn more about this project at ramseycounty.us/residents/parks-recreation/beaches-water-park/waterworks.
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