By CINDY STAUFFER | Staff WriterA giant, inflatable water slide three-football-fields long is coming to a Lancaster City street this summer.
A Utah company called Slide the City will place a padded, bright-blue slide on Broad Street on the east side of Lancaster, near Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.
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The slide will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 19, and run from King Street to Clermont Avenue.
The event also will include local food vendors and bands.
Related: Lancaster woman launches campaign to raise $7,500 so kids can afford to take a ride on the slide
Cost will range from $15 for one slide up to $50 for an all-day ticket, which also gives early and late access to the slide, for those who register early. Registration opens April 1.
All riders must wear a mouth guard and use an inflatable tube to ride the slide. Foam helmets will be available, for free, at the top of the slide.
A percentage of the profits from the day will be donated to The Mix at Arbor Place, a Lancaster organization that provides before- and after-school programming, and summer activities for children.
The Mix expects to receive between $5,000 to $6,000 from the event, said Christine Dombrosky, development director at the Mix. In exchange, the Mix is providing 80 volunteers, who each will work a three-hour shift at the event.
The Mix also will receive 15 percent of the registration fee from people who use the promo code "themix2015" when they buy their tickets.
"If we could make this a $10,000 event, we would be thrilled," Dombrosky said. "Oh my gosh, we are so excited.
"It's just going to be a fun, wonderful, hopefully hot afternoon that everyone can enjoy and almost have a big street party."
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Slide the City, which is in its second year of operation, approached Lancaster officials in January about bringing their event to the city.
The business has set up inflatable slides in states from Oregon to Florida, and plans to host 130 events this year, said Lauren Brady, event director for Slide the City.
"We've never had anything like this before," said Jennifer Baker, from the City of Lancaster Office of Promotion, also known as LOOP. "We're really excited about it."
Baker said Broad Street met the grade requirements set by Slide the City. City officials also liked the location because it is outside the central downtown area, where many city events are traditionally held.
"This gets into another part of the city, and another neighborhood," she said.
Broad Street will be closed from 4 a.m. until midnight on July 19, said LOOP special events manager Annie Weeks. The city granted a permit for the event last week.
Slide the City uses about 12,000 gallons of water during its events. It uses a circulation and filtration system to treat and recycle the water throughout the event. When permitted, Slide the City donates water back to the community for use on parks, golf courses and other areas, Brady said.
