Cape Coral cancels future teen events at Sun Splash Waterpark

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – City leaders are putting a stop to out of control parties thrown at Sun Splash Waterpark.

A teen party thrown on March 28 had more than 1,600 in attendance. Neighbors complained the party got loud and out of hand, there were even reports of underage drinking.

Wednesday, city leaders met with DJ Travis Williams, the host of the party.

WINK News spoke to Williams just before he went into the meeting with Cape Coral city leaders.

He said he expected the meeting to go smoothly and was preparing for his next event at the park this month, but that’s not what happened.

WINK News was there as Williams and his father went into the closed door meeting with city leaders, the Sun Splash director and Cape Coral police chief.

Williams says the city called the meeting with him and once he got inside, they basically said future events were off the table.

People were outraged after Williams’ spring break party last month got so wild, neighbors called 911. Meanwhile, park staff reported a variety of issues from drinking to sex in the pools.

Williams says it was a positive event and those incidents didn’t happen, but he believes that’s what changed leaders minds.

“Comments that they’ve seen, hearing what happened at the last event which none of it was true, on my end there’s no proof of anything,”said Williams.

“Based on some of the things we’ve seen on websites and things the promoter, as well as his staff, had reported on his website, it was determined that the city, that it was not the type of activity we wished for our quality of life in Cape Coral involved with,” said Parks and Recreation Director Stephen Pohlman.

Cape Coral says they acknowledge the need for local teens to have more positive activities and they’re working on a plan for that during the summer months.

A city spokesperson released a statement regarding the new developments saying:

After a joint discussion this morning between City officials and promoter Travis Williams, the April 25 “Splash” event scheduled at Sun Splash has been canceled as well as any future events by Mr. Williams.  Both sides understand that sufficient controls and security have to be in place, and Mr. Williams was not going to be able to meet those obligations.

“We recognize the need for more entertainment options for our young residents and intend on moving forward with planning our own events,” said City Manager John Szerlag.  “The City will ensure that adequate security and supervision is provided for the upcoming City-sponsored teen events.”

The City events will be hosted for specific age groups with separate events for high school students and middle school students. More details on these events will be provided at a later date.

Williams says he hopes to have an event at another location later in April.