COLUMBUS, Ohio — The owners of a shuttered water park on Columbus’ east side are being held in contempt for failing to fix serious health and safety code violations, City Attorney Zach Klein announced Tuesday.
The property at Hilton Corporate Drive once housed Fort Rapids Indoor Water Park & Resort. The former hotel and indoor water park in east Columbus was shut down in 2016 due to health, safety and fire code violations.
When it was open, Fort Rapids had a history of violations and issues that caused many health problems among guests. From 2015 and early 2016, guests at the water park complained about getting sick with complaints ranging from asthma attacks and bronchitis to vomiting.
The current owners bought the property in 2017 after the water park was shuttered, but never reopened the business.
The city took legal action against the property owners to get them to bring it back into compliance. Owners have been incurring $1,000 a day fines since August 2022. Those fines have now increased to $2,000 a day.
Starting in 2019, officials from Code Enforcement documented violations of the city safety code. Six other inspections conducted by code and fire personnel followed which found that the property was violating several codes.
The violations that officials found on the property include alarm systems that were not working, abandoned vehicles, overgrown grass and weeds, damage to the face of the building and unsecured doors and windows, according to Klein’s office.
Owners of the property failed to bring the former water park property into compliance with the city which subsequently declared the property a public nuisance in August 2021.
Klein announced Tuesday that the Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Division sided with the city to hold in contempt of court the owners. The city was awarded $199,000 in contempt fines and doubled daily fines against property owners.
The court also mandated that the owners must submit written plans for the full rehabilitation of the property within 30 days. That includes a project timeline for all outstanding violations, a plan for fire safety system improvements, plans for securing the exterior of the property and a plan for continuing maintenance at the premises.
Klein said owners must also post cash or bond for 125% of the costs of the full rehabilitation plan.
“The City has a number of tools to hold owners accountable to ensure their properties are safe and up to code. The actions taken at Fort Rapids are aggressive and hopefully enough to get this site turned around to be a viable option for future use or development. It’s what the east side deserves,” said Property Action Team Chief Attorney Steve Dunbar. “I’m thankful to Code Enforcement and the Fire Prevention Bureau for helping our team bring a successful case before the Court.”
The owners have until July 27 to present a rehabilitation plan and deposit necessary funding or face jail time until those conditions are met. A compliance hearing is set for August 1.