Highly Visible Features
A 113-foot-long waterfall starts at the stadium-side’s edge of the Choctaw Lazy River and drops more than 8 feet off the concourse area where the hillside falls away. The waterfall runs on a series of 20-horse- power pumps, large 12-inch plumbing and Gold Medal Pools’ custom filtration system.
The waterfall feature was created to appeal to spectators, but the area needed more visibility to get views from across the field. “We came up with the idea of the water curtains to provide the height we needed to be impactful from the far side of the stadium,” Magill says. “We wanted these water curtains to really stand out, so we added a series of LED lights that make for a dramatic element at night. They became a signature piece to the pool area.”
Two 28-foot-wide rain curtain structures are separated by an outdoor cabana. The custom-built framework that houses each rain curtain contains side towers that are internally illuminated using LED color-changing lights. The exposed steel frame blends with other elements of the ballpark and is skinned inside with opaque plastic liner to hide piping and provide the special glow.
The team installed additional colored LED lights at the top of the structures to illuminate the 20-foot-tall wall of water as it exits the structures, and the color of the lights carries through the streams of rain as they descend. RoughRiders’ management can change the color of the structures’ lighting and rain curtains independently, and the glowing rain curtains can be seen from the adjacent city street, as well as the stadium. More than strictly visual elements, however, guests can run across the decking beneath the falling water to cool off.
Gold Medal Pools self-performed the decking as textured concrete with an architectural finish of saw-cut decorative acid-stained bands. The company also custom-fabricated the steel structures for the two cabanas.
America’s Pastimes
“Baseball is a huge attraction here and the RoughRiders have made the ballpark an amazing destination to take the family,” Sandler says. “The city knows there’s a symbiosis with having a sports team and an increased desire for people wanting to live here and companies wanting to conduct business here.”
The Choctaw Lazy River space can be rented out year-round for events ranging from corporate meetings to birthday parties. “It provides a venue after hours and on non-game days, which gives the general public an opportunity to experience the ballpark in many ways,” Magill adds.
Greenberg says the lazy river has received a winning response from RoughRiders fans and Frisco residents.“The difference between just installing a giant pool or opting for our lazy river was night and day in terms of exposure, not to mention the actual experience,” he asserts. “The original vision was good, but in every respect, the finished product is even better.”
Retrofit Team
Architect: Magill Associates, Plano, Texas
Pool Design Consultant: The Brannon Corp., Tyler, Texas
General Contractor: Gold Medal Pools, Frisco, Texas
Railing Restoration: Rock Built, Southlake, Texas
Materials
Pool Interior Surface: aquaBRIGHT from ecoFINISH
All other work was self-performed by Gold Medal Pools
PHOTOS: Frisco RoughRiders unless otherwise noted