County of facility: St. Charles County
Location of facility: Droste Rd. & McNair Park Dr., St. Charles
Phone: (636) 944-6001
GENERAL INFORMATION:
• Height Requirements for the Blanchette Aquatic Facility:
– Open Flume Slide, Enclosed Flume Slide, Drop Slide – Must be at least 48" tall
– Slides attached to the Kiddie Structure – Must be at least 36" tall
– Diving Boards, Climbing Wall – No height restriction but must know how to swim
• Coast Guard approved life jackets, noodles, water wings and rings no larger then 38 inches
in diameter are allowed with adult supervision. Other flotation devices such as inner tubes and
rafts are NOT permitted.
• Use of the Season Pass card by person(s) other than the person listed on the season membership
will result in a cancellation of the pass.
• Must be 12 years or older to enter the Aquatic Facilities without a guardian. Children 11 and
younger must be accompanied by a guardian 14 or older.
• All children still in diapers MUST wear swimmies provided by the Park Department due to health
and safety issues.
"Aquatics are an important part of recreation programming nationwide. Swimming pools often lead the list of desired public recreational amenities in citywide park plans. Additionally, a strong aquatics program is vital for all children and adults to learn to swim–especially in a community adjacent to rivers and lakes.
"For many years, St. Charles, Missouri had an existing pool system based on the 1950’s National Recreation and Park Association guidelines that one recreational swimming pool should be provided for every 20,000 residents.
"Many early municipal pools had rudimentary or no filtration and sanitation systems. In the time period between 1950 and 1980, a number of these municipal pools started losing attendance due to water quality and health scare issues, removal of diving boards, more stringent health department codes, and escalating operational costs.
"In the early 1980’s, the first commercial waterpark Wet’n Wild was constructed in Orlando, Florida; the first wave pool was constructed at Point Mallard in Decatur, Alabama; and they were a huge commercial success. Soon it became apparent that the way to increase attendance and generate revenue to offset operating costs was for municipal pool operators were to add waterslides, children’s play features, and other waterpark amenities to municipal recreation pools.
"In the 1990’s, it was time for St. Charles to replace their aging and outdated pools. Since St. Charles Parks and Recreation is required to generate revenue to cover operating expenses, they decided to replace their outdated 1950 vintage pool system with three (3) family aquatic centers. Although one or two family aquatic centers were needed at the time, there were three existing pools. So, a small facility with room to expand was constructed at McNair Park, a medium-size facility was created by renovating and adding to Blanchette Park, and a large facility was constructed at Wapelhorst Park." ~ St. Charles, MO