LAKE WALES, Fla. — A man in Lake Wales is raising money to build a water park specifically designed for people with disabilities.

What You Need To Know

  • A Lake Wales man is raising funds to build a brand new water park designed for people with disabilities

  • The water park, named StirringWaters, is estimated to cost $12 million, according to its visionary, Bill Redmon 

  • Redmon plans on hosting a fundraiser called Paddle On! May 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  • He anticipates that, if all goes according to plan, the water park will be complete and fully operational in roughly three years

The proposed park is called StirringWaters and it’s an ambitious project that its visionary says is worth pursuing.

He may be reluctant to embrace the comparison, but 83-year-old Bill Redmon shares a lot of similarities, from his mustache to his ambition, with a man who once walked through an orange grove with a dream of creating a theme park for families to enjoy.

“I see and I hear the laughter right now,” Redmon said.

Because, like Walt Disney when he strolled through a field in Anaheim, Calif., these five acres of orange groves in Lake Wales are more than just a spot to grow citrus.

“You might see an orange; I see the face of a kid,” Redmon, president of the nonprofit, Removing the Barriers, said. “We did not buy this property to grow oranges.”

When the Lake Aurora Christian Camp purchased the grove back in 1989, it was for something bigger.

Over the years, it’s become the spot for Bill’s dream — a water park specifically designed for people with disabilities.

He wants to create something that truly embodies inclusivity for families that haven’t seen that in other places.

“You know, baseball fields were always inclusive but baseball wasn’t inclusive until they let Jackie Robinson play and just because they share a space doesn’t mean it’s inclusive,” Redmon said. “You gotta share the experience and then it becomes inclusive.”

Bill says inclusivity is what you’ll get with StirringWaters.

From its entrance, “We would be standing it what will probably be its entertainment plaza,” Redmon said, to places for everyone to have some fun in the sun, even if you’re in a wheelchair.

“It has a 25-meter pool,” Redmon envisioned when he showed Spectrum Bay News 9 the planned location, “then we move to the lazy river.”

Each place within these five acres that will make up StirringWaters, according to Redmon, will make sure that anyone with a disability will be able to access it and enjoy it with little to no difficulty.

“Our motto is no one is left on the deck,” he said.

But what is still left on the deck is the money to completely fund the construction of the park.

Just the water park alone, Redmon estimates will cost about $12 million but he anticipates that they’ll raise enough money to break ground on the first phase of the project this year.

“I’m excited, it’s like we’ve poked the bear,” Redmon said.

They’ve been raising money for quite some time and plan on holding a fundraiser on May 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. where folks can kayak, canoe or paddleboard at Lake Wailes and all the money raised will go towards this water park.

“If I want to see this thing in my lifetime,” Redmon said, “I’ve got to keep this thing going.”

And that’s what keeps Redmon going so that others can see what he sees in this grove — a great big beautiful tomorrow for people with disabilities looking to have their own happiest place on earth.

If you would like to donate to help build StirringWaters, click here.

In addition, Redmon plans to do another fundraiser this fall for StirringWaters where he and others that are interested will canoe down the Missouri River in the Midwest, those details can be found here.