Bradley isn’t just getting a waterpark. It’s getting a 65-foot-tall monument to bad decisions in swimwear… and, yes, a legitimately serious set of slides.
Thanks to public project documents and the March 2025 slide purchase contract with WhiteWater West, we’ve got a pretty solid picture of what’s planned for the Village of Bradley’s future indoor waterpark at the Northfield Square Mall site. As designed, it’s aiming to be the largest indoor waterpark in Illinois, centered around a slide tower with eight slides, a lazy river, wave pool, surf feature and more.
Designs can always shift, but here’s what’s on the table right now.
The 65-Foot Slide Tower: Eight Ways to Yeet Yourself Into Chlorine
The heart of the park is a 65-foot slide tower with eight different slides. That’s the big vertical statement piece you’ll see from the parking lot and probably from half of Kankakee County on a clear day.
From the engineering and procurement documents, we know the slide package centers on an “all-in-one slides complex: Hurricane + Boomerango”, plus a separate kids’ slides complex bundled into the same deal.
So what does that actually mean in normal human language?
- The tower will host multiple slide paths stacked off the same structure
- At least one of those paths is a raft slide with big drops and wall climbs
- Others will be more traditional tube or body slides, giving a range from “fun” to “why did I agree to this”
The exact mix of enclosed vs open slides, single vs multi-rider, etc. isn’t spelled out in public text, but with eight lanes coming off a 65-foot tower, expect a spectrum: from mid-intensity family rides to at least one “I’m rethinking my life choices” headliner.
The Headliner: Hurricane + Boomerango Combo
The contract specifically calls out an “all-in-one slides complex: Hurricane + Boomerango.”
Those aren’t just dramatic marketing names; they’re specific slide models from WhiteWater:
- Boomerango is a signature “wall ride” slide: riders in a raft drop down a steep chute, rocket up a giant near-vertical wall, flirt with zero-gravity at the top, then fall back down into the run-out. WhiteWater+1
- Hurricane is typically a high-speed, twisting raft or tube slide element with tight, high-banked turns designed to keep speed and pressure up. YouTube+1
Put together in a single complex, you’re looking at:
- A multi-person raft slide starting high on the tower
- A fast series of turns and drops
- A dramatic climb up a huge wall section where the raft briefly feels weightless
- A swing back down and splash into the final pool
Translation: this will be the marquee thrill slide that shows up in every ad and every teenager’s Instagram story the first summer it opens.
Kids’ Slide Complex & AquaPlay Zone
Bradley isn’t just buying one giant thrill monster and calling it a day. The same slide contract includes:
- A Kids’ Slides Complex
- An “Aquaparks AF-127B” unit (a branded multi-level aquatic play structure)
- 20 “AquaSplash Toys” (sprayers, geysers, dumping features, mini cannons, etc.)
These AquaSplash elements are standard WhiteWater interactive toys used in shallow kids’ areas and on play structures: hoses, tipping buckets, wheels that spray water, little volcanoes, that kind of chaos.
Layer that on top of what the designers already describe: a multi-level play structure and splash pad tied into the broader pool area.
So for the under-48-inch crowd, you’re looking at:
- Multiple small slides off a central play tower
- Shallow water “beach” style entries
- Spray features coming from every direction
- Enough visual noise that parents will deeply regret leaving the Advil at home
It’s basically the “starter pack” for future Hurricane + Boomerango riders.
The Surf Machine: FlowRider Double
Not technically a “slide,” but absolutely part of the headline ride package: Bradley’s deal includes a FlowRider Double, a stationary surf simulator that shoots a thin sheet of water up a shaped surface so you can bodyboard or stand-up surf in place.
The FlowRider Double model:
- Has room for two riders at once
- Uses a tensioned “trampoline-like” ride surface for softer wipeouts
- Is specifically designed as a high-energy, spectator-friendly attraction
This is the thing teens will line up for all day while everyone else wonders how many times you can fall on your face and still call it “fun.”
What the Slides Plug Into: The Rest of the Waterpark
All those slide systems don’t live in a vacuum. The Bradley waterpark plan wraps them in a full indoor / outdoor water environment. According to the design partners and enclosure provider, the park is planned to include:
- Wave pool
- Lazy river
- Activity pool
- Adult pool with a swim-up bar
- Children’s pool & splash pad
- Outdoor pool with a floating obstacle course
- A retractable-roof structure over the main indoor zone
The slides feed into that network: big tower slides dropping into catch pools, kids’ slides tying into shallow play areas, and the surf machine set up as a visual focal point for the indoor hall.
Timeline & “Subject to Change” Reality Check
Right now, public info points to:
- Slide package with WhiteWater West approved for about $20 million
- Total project sizing around 75,000–90,000 square feet and marketed as Illinois’ largest indoor waterpark
- Construction targeted to start in spring 2026 with an opening aimed at mid-to-late 2027
Like any big project, the village and its vendors can still tweak layouts, names, colors and details. But given the signed slide contract and the published design summaries, it would be surprising if the core lineup changed much:
- Hurricane + Boomerango headline raft complex
- Eight-slide tower as the visual anchor
- Kids’ slide complex + AquaSplash toys for families
- FlowRider Double surf simulator as the boarding-sport crowd-pleaser
So when this thing finally opens, you’re not just getting “some slides.” You’re getting the full modern indoor-waterpark toolkit: from gentle toddler slides to full “vertical wall, screaming the whole way up” energy.
Which, frankly, is a pretty on-brand way for Bradley to announce itself as “tourism hub now, sorry about your quiet weekend plans.”
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