Setting up a beer garden next year at the Big Sky Waterpark is part of a long-range plan that includes other improvements at the popular tourist attraction east of Columbia Falls, the owner says.

Michael Maddy, of Polson, owns the waterpark under the name Marlo’s Liquid Assets Co. LLC. He said he bought the facility from Whitefish Credit Union in 2008 when the Canadian investors who owned the waterpark failed to make payments and the property went into foreclosure.

He is now partnering with Whitefish investor Rick Blake, who owns a liquor license once held by the former Pollo Grille restaurant on East Lakeshore Drive in Whitefish.

Blake, who sits on the Whitefish City-County Planning Board and has been involved in Whitefish politics, met Maddy through a mutual friend, Dennis Konopatzke, who’s also a member of the Whitefish planning board.

An application submitted by Blake to the Montana Department of Revenue calls for 15 indoor seats and eight outdoor seats, but Maddy likes to think of the new amenity as a beer garden.

He said the gazebo-like building currently in the shaded section of the waterpark usually rented out for corporate parties will be remodeled next spring for the beer garden. Once up and running, it will be separated from the rest of the waterpark by a fence.

Maddy said he wants to maintain the family atmosphere at the waterpark, but he also wants to offer something for fathers to do while their familes are there. That could include sports bar amenities like big-screen TVs, he said.

He said he attends waterpark conventions every year to get new ideas to promote the waterpark, and putting in a beer garden is a popular idea.

Down the line, Maddy wants to put in a pizza oven and offer an improved menu — and maybe run a zipline or two across the water features. He’s also looking at setting up an electric go-cart track.

The waterpark along U.S. 2 in Columbia Heights has really grown since it was built in 1983. It now features 10 waterslides from 265 to 400 feet long, an 18-hole miniature golf course, bumper cars, an antique carousel, an arcade, a 24-foot tall climbing wall, a gift shop, a concession stand and picnic tables scattered around the grounds.

For more information, visit online at www.bigskywp.com.