USA Water Ski lake at Lake Myrtle Park

[Guest]

I was amazed to see that the USAWS competition ski lake at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, FL is complete. The last time I was there, the lake was one third the size and construction activity had stopped for many months. Coincidentally, my next door neighbor is the contractor on the job. His contract is with the City of Auburndale, not USAWS. Of course there is no news at all coming from USA Water Ski on the status of this project. I'm no longer on the inside, so I have no idea what's going on. The masterplan calls for a trick lake also. No word as to whether that is still on the table.

[Broussard]

I am under the impression that USAWS has no affiliation with the project and that it is a partnership between the City of Auburndale and Visit Central Florida / Polk County Sports Marketing.

[BKistler]

I get the same impression.

[MitchellM]

Is this the site next to the cable park? I've looked at a few homes near there, but the two lakes I looked at did not have slalom courses. I wonder who will run this facility.

[BKistler]

It’s immediately adjacent to Elite Cable Park. Who will run it is a big question. It will take knowledgeable volunteers. The Winter Haven crowd are show skiers and have a home on Lake Silver. (Kudos to the City of Winter Haven for that.) Perhaps the Lakeland Water Ski Club? Some new group?

[jcamp]

Since this project is being spearheaded by Polk County Sports Marketing, I bet they will outsource management to someone who will put on a lot of events and competitions. That organization's main purpose is to put heads in beds (i.e. fill hotels). Really glad to see the lake be finished and hope it has a strong 3-event presence. Looking forward to skiing it.

[BKistler]

Talked to Mark Jackson, head of Polk Sports Marketing (and former Cypress Gardens skier). They are currently working on a plan to operate the ski lake. I’m not at liberty to say who it is but the group involves a company well known to BOS. I quizzed him about the trick lake. Options are to use a natural lake on the other side of the parkway or use the adjacent Lake Myrtle.

[MitchellM]

@bkistler will there be public access to the course on that lake or will all slalom skiing be controlled by their vendor? I've looked at two houses on Lake Van and Lake Juliana but neither of those lakes have slalom courses.

[BKistler]

Most likely no public access. Whether or not the operator will offer memberships of some kind remains to be seen.

[ETskier]

There was a 1200' lake to the southeast on the property. (Google maps) Did they just extend it past the dog park and connect to the other small pond ?

[BKistler]

That lake is the original excavation that was suspended for a long time. The lake now continues past the dog park all the way to the soccer fields. I don’t think it was a matter of connecting to that small pond. The new lake obliterated the pond.

[BKistler]

The park road now extends from the soccer complex around the east side of the new lake to Denton Road. Nice site. Polk County’s answer to Okeeheelee. I keep talking about a trick lake because with that this could be a Nationals site.

[Broussard]

@BKistler I'll have to disagree with you here... Nationals (or pretty much any tournament for that matter) consists of far more slalom pulls than trick or jump. If you run nationals on a two lake site you need a dedicated slalom lake with trick and jump run on another lake. A trick only lake doesn't help you out.

[BKistler]

You’re probably right. Sigh. When I was Executive Director, I argued that we needed a National Water Ski Center, place where the Nationals would be held every year. When USA Water Ski launched this project, I thought they’re finally implementing my concept. Now we’ll have another Lake Grew.

[BraceMaker]

@Broussard that switches a bit for a school or training environment you would think though. If you're running a school your 3 event skiers can pretty much keep a trick lake running all day every day.

[skihacker]

Bump, I was in that area today and the lake is drained........evidently for the second time in recent months, the story I got which may or may not be accurate is that THIS time it was drained to install/build a boat ramp and no one thought to do that the last time it was drained...... I was very interested in this sight hoping for a club type setup but still mostly questions at this point.

[BKistler]

A foreman told me they would drain the lake to install the boat ramp. The lake had been full due to heavy summer rains followed by two hurricanes.