A Skagit County man who was severely injured on the Hairpin slide at Birch Bay Waterslides in August 2023 has named Whatcom County, Safe Slide Restoration and Kingworks Consulting Engineers as new defendants in his lawsuit against Birch Bay Waterslides. This comes as Birch Bay Waterslides has announced it is going through various changes, including new management, as it plans to reopen summer 2025.
Larry Baker, of Skagit County, filed a lawsuit against Birch Bay Jun Yu Waterslides LLC in Whatcom County Superior Court on May 9 after he spent nearly two weeks in Harborview Medical Center’s intensive care unit in Seattle resulting from serious leg injuries he sustained going down the park’s Hairpin slide on August 25, 2023.
The original complaint alleged Birch Bay Waterslides was negligent because it had the duty to provide safe and adequate maintenance of the water park, provide customers with warnings regarding unsafe areas and have a system for inspecting unsafe conditions.
In the amended complaint filed December 3, Baker’s lawyers wrote that Whatcom County had the duty to inspect, document and issue or decline permits for the waterpark’s operation. The amended complaint also noted Safe Slide and Kingworks, which inspected different parts of the waterpark’s slides, had the duty to warn Birch Bay Waterslides of the Hairpin’s dangerous condition.
The attorneys for Birch Bay Waterslides also requested a summary judgement, arguing Baker’s complaint did not reach the threshold of gross negligence and the liability waiver Baker signed precluded claims against the park. However, judge Lee Grochmal denied the motion for a summary judgement and allowed Baker’s attorneys to add the other defendants to the complaint.
Birch Bay Waterslides announced on Facebook on November 14 that it planned to reopen in 2025. Park management wrote it would begin a five-year plan to renovate the park, which turns 40 years old next year. In a second announcement on November 27, park management announced Birch Bay Waterslides was entering a management partnership with Global Management Amusement Professionals, a California-based consulting company.
The waterpark’s website shows it is under new management, though it doesn’t provide more information. The park is also now working with Starguard Elite, a Florida-based company, for waterpark safety and risk management services and SlideGuys Restoration, a Michigan-based company, to refurbish its slides in the spring.
The park’s website does not specify what renovations will be completed before the 2025 season. The attractions listed on the website include the Twister, Corkscrew, Snake, River Ride, Ramp and Black Hole slides.
Whatcom County Health and Community Services sent a compliance agreement to Birch Bay Waterslides in April outlining the code violations and other requirements the water park needs to fix in order to reopen. Once the water park has fulfilled all of those requirements, the county health department will inspect the facility within two weeks of a proposed opening date to confirm all criteria have been met.
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