ScubyDoo
Contributor
This is currently a daydream and will probably stay a daydream, but I wanted to share it with my fellow scuba friends. I would like to hear your opinions on the feasibility of such a grand business venture.
Imagine if you will a very large one story building. A building on the scale of a large industrial plant. For arguments sake lets say 100,000 square feet. For those who have difficulty visualizing how large a building this size is, it would hold 3 football fields side by side with 10,000 square feet left over.
The building could be a pre-engineered metal building which would keep costs low. It would be a high bay building providing plenty of overhead clearance....lets say 40-50 feet. Inside this building is a massive indoor aquatic park. An aquatic park specifically designed for scuba divers, yet large enough to allow flexibility for other activities. Sort of like the huge water parks which exist today except designed primarily for scuba. The aquatic basin would be made to mimic open water. The depths vary from shallow sandy beaches to approximately 60 feet or deeper. The entire basin would have sandy bottoms with artificial reefs. There would huge synthetic rock cliffs and walls which could compartmentlize the huge basin into different zones. There are caves and tunnels which meander throughout. Small boats could be sunk to provide underwater wrecks. There could possibly even be hidden rooms accessible only through the caves. The surface would be designed such that you would feel as if your outside via use of massive skylights or translucent panels. The synthetic rock formations would protrude from the water and allow for waterfalls. Palm trees abound throughout.
This facility would primarily be used by recreational divers in need of a quick fix. Instead of going to a movie or playing golf, they can just stop by and take an exotic dive. Of course the water would be heated so during the winter doldrums it provides the ulitimate escape. A full service dive shop, training center, and exercise gym occupies the remaining 10,000 square feet. These spaces would include multiple classrooms for instruction, complete locker rooms with large showers. A running/walking track could be implemented around the perimeter of the basin as well.
The large basin would be ideal for instruction/training at all levels. It would be large enough that you could easily teach all the specialties. You could have small boats or mock-ups for teaching boat dives, turn the lights low or off for night dives. You could possibly .....possibly even add a small area for deep dives.
This whole daydream stems from me wishing there was a place like this that I could go to. I know....there is......the ocean...the lakes...etc. Those however are not controlled environments, and thier definately not in my neighborhood. Being an architect, I'm always daydreaming about fantastic structures anyway, and now my love of scuba has me trying to combine the two. I realize that local dive shops today are struggling, but local dive shops are not offering what a facility like this would offer. Recreational diving is expanding at an astounding rate, and I believe it will not be long before scuba diving will be as common as catching a good movie. If the divers fail to materialize, you still have a top notch water park and exercise facility.
If its successfull.........one in every mid to major city.
Build it and they will come????
Imagine if you will a very large one story building. A building on the scale of a large industrial plant. For arguments sake lets say 100,000 square feet. For those who have difficulty visualizing how large a building this size is, it would hold 3 football fields side by side with 10,000 square feet left over.
The building could be a pre-engineered metal building which would keep costs low. It would be a high bay building providing plenty of overhead clearance....lets say 40-50 feet. Inside this building is a massive indoor aquatic park. An aquatic park specifically designed for scuba divers, yet large enough to allow flexibility for other activities. Sort of like the huge water parks which exist today except designed primarily for scuba. The aquatic basin would be made to mimic open water. The depths vary from shallow sandy beaches to approximately 60 feet or deeper. The entire basin would have sandy bottoms with artificial reefs. There would huge synthetic rock cliffs and walls which could compartmentlize the huge basin into different zones. There are caves and tunnels which meander throughout. Small boats could be sunk to provide underwater wrecks. There could possibly even be hidden rooms accessible only through the caves. The surface would be designed such that you would feel as if your outside via use of massive skylights or translucent panels. The synthetic rock formations would protrude from the water and allow for waterfalls. Palm trees abound throughout.
This facility would primarily be used by recreational divers in need of a quick fix. Instead of going to a movie or playing golf, they can just stop by and take an exotic dive. Of course the water would be heated so during the winter doldrums it provides the ulitimate escape. A full service dive shop, training center, and exercise gym occupies the remaining 10,000 square feet. These spaces would include multiple classrooms for instruction, complete locker rooms with large showers. A running/walking track could be implemented around the perimeter of the basin as well.
The large basin would be ideal for instruction/training at all levels. It would be large enough that you could easily teach all the specialties. You could have small boats or mock-ups for teaching boat dives, turn the lights low or off for night dives. You could possibly .....possibly even add a small area for deep dives.
This whole daydream stems from me wishing there was a place like this that I could go to. I know....there is......the ocean...the lakes...etc. Those however are not controlled environments, and thier definately not in my neighborhood. Being an architect, I'm always daydreaming about fantastic structures anyway, and now my love of scuba has me trying to combine the two. I realize that local dive shops today are struggling, but local dive shops are not offering what a facility like this would offer. Recreational diving is expanding at an astounding rate, and I believe it will not be long before scuba diving will be as common as catching a good movie. If the divers fail to materialize, you still have a top notch water park and exercise facility.
If its successfull.........one in every mid to major city.
Build it and they will come????
