Looking drab. Photo: James Coleman.
A person claiming to be the business manager of the derelict Big Splash has come out on social media, blaming recent vandalism for the reason the waterpark hasn’t reopened.
A new Big Splash page appeared on Facebook earlier this month, and shortly afterwards, a person claiming to be “Greg, one of the business managers” posted about how the Belconnen site would be “closed for good” and demolished next year.
“I have unfortunate news to share today,” he wrote on 16 April.
“Big Splash has been completely vandalised, and we have closed for good. Demolition will commence next year.”
The Big Splash Waterpark Facebook page, with all posts now deleted. Photo: Screenshot.
Earlier, on 4 April, another post claimed the owners were still keen for the waterpark to reopen for the 2025/26 season but blamed “financial difficulties” for the delay.
“We have been working diligently to reopen. I have seen videos suggesting that the park is abandoned, which is not accurate. We are actively working towards reopening this year.”
Greg said he had seen the recent TikTok videos showing people trespassing inside the park, “that have caused concern”.
“This not only creates additional problems for us but also requires more time and resources. We are implementing enhanced security measures to prevent future incident [sic].”
Greg claimed to be away in Thailand, but when asked by commenters how he could have also been posting photos and videos of the site to the Facebook page at the same time – and why he hadn’t patched the holes in the fence and boarded up the broken windows – there was no response.
All posts on the page have since been deleted.
The page still includes an address and link to the official Big Splash website, but it’s unclear how genuine it is.
The waterpark has been attracting ‘urban explorers’. Photo: James Coleman.
Translink Management Group Pty Ltd, owned by Songnan (Morris) Huang, bought the lease to the park in 2021 for $7.5 million.
The park has been attracting many so-called ‘urban explorers’ in search of attention on social media, who manage to get inside the site and capture videos.
One video, posted to TikTok by user raincloudexplore, attracted more than 41,000 views before the social media platform removed it. The poster later apologised and pleaded with others not to do the same.
He, too, claimed to have heard from one of the waterpark’s staff members, who had reiterated “plans to open again, hopefully soon”.
“Basically, long story short, is we were getting ready to open, but last year, our general manager, assistant and maintenance manager, they had to leave with valid reasons,” the worker reportedly told raincloudexplore.
“With trying to find new staff and the slides not working this past season, the owners felt unfit to open. She’ll be open this summer, hopefully.”
Earlier this month, TikTok user abbeybest also posted a series of videos from inside the park, including one where she climbed to the top of the waterslide tower.
Most of the vandalism appears to have occurred in the last two weeks, as the large pink fibreglass kangaroo that appears in a couple of the abbeybest videos is now broken from the ground and dumped in the main pool.
The front glass doors have also been smashed, furniture and wheelie bins have been thrown into the empty pools, and nearly all surfaces have been sprayed with graffiti.
@_abbeybest the kangaroo is cooked #waterpark #abandoned #abando #urbex #urbanexploring #canberra #funny #playground
Police have responded to two reports of trespassing at Big Splash. Members of the public called in both cases.
“In one incident, three young people were arrested and cautioned for trespass,” an ACT Policing spokesperson said.
“Police remind the community that trespassing is a criminal offence. No person is allowed to be on private property without permission.”
The ACT Greens launched a petition earlier this year, calling on the government to step in and “bring Big Splash back” and “Investigate all possible avenues to keep this important community facility open for use this summer and for future generations of Canberrans, including buying the facility and operating it as a public pool”.
The petition closed with 442 signatures in late February and remains with the ACT Government pending a response.
