The Kalispell Parks and Recreation Department plans to resurface the city’s lazy river and hopes to build a climbing wall at Woodland Water Park in the near future.  

The lazy river’s surface is more than 20 years old and in need of an upgrade, Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher said.  

“Just bringing things back to a standard that the community would expect,” he said of the proposed work.  

The department is mulling over several possible methods to resurface the pool, whether it be installing a liner, recoating the surface or using a newer method of heating up plastic that forms a sort of shell.  

Fincher said he is consulting with other municipal water parks in the state and possible vendors. When a direction is decided, it will be brought before the Kalispell City Council for approval. 

The project timeline will depend on the chosen method, but Fincher does not expect construction to impede the lazy river’s regularly scheduled season, which runs June 20 through Aug. 16. 

Fincher estimated the project would cost somewhere from $65,000 on up. The city’s fiscal 2026 budget allocated $170,000.  

Funding will come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a federal grant program administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  

If there is any money left over from the grant, it will go toward a climbing wall that arches into the deep end of the lap pool, Fincher said.  

But updating the lazy river is the city’s priority, and a climbing wall is planned further down the road.   

As for other recent improvements, the deteriorating 20-year-old signs at the water park were replaced at the start of the summer season, Fincher said.  

Language on the signs was also altered to be more positive. For instance, "no running” signs were changed to “please walk” signs, Fincher said.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].