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The Zoom Flume Water Slide / Super Slide & Arcade, 107 Calvin Drive / 5959 Two Notch Road: 1980   38 comments

Posted at 11:37 pm in closing

This is probably the second most searched for closing, after The Bounty. As with The Bounty, I've held off doing a post because the place is completely gone, I don't have any pictures of it, and I don't have any personal memories to relate.

I was thinking that I could do some research at the RCPL and at least come up with an old Yellow Pages ad to hang a post on, but when I finally got a chance to check it out, I found that The Zoom Flume never had a Yellow Pages entry, at least under any category that made sense to me. In fact, they were only listed in the white pages for two years.

So here's what I know about the waterslide: The Zoom Flume was located at 107 Calvin Drive (unless you believe a city directory entry which puts it at 5959 Two Notch Road), which is a small street off of Two Notch Road in between Arcadia Lakes Drive and Fontaine Road. Calvin Drive starts perpendicular to Two Notch, then turns off parallel to Two Notch and Shakespeare Road and runs behind Freedom Suziki. 107 Calvin Drive is now a vacant lot behind Dixie Trophies, Inc.. The slide would, I assume, have been situated up the hill that elevates Shakespeare Road above Two Notch. Currently, for no reason I can discern, the empty lot is surrounded with a formidable looking 7000 volt electrical fence.

People have talked about The Zoom Flume in the comments sections of other posts from time to time, with the most solid information coming from commenter Captain Dave who said:

The one on Two Notch was indeed “The Zoom Flume”. I remember it well because they were a major sponsor at WZLD-FM where I worked. It’s heyday was the summer of 1979. We gave away free passes all the time. Ithink we tied it in with “The Ramblin’ Raft Race” on the Congaree River.

So that's pretty much it. Not a great post, but hopefully it will provide a place for people who actually went to the Flume to add comments. If anybody has pictures of themselves playing there back in the day, I'll gladly post those as well.

UPDATE 16 Dec 2010: Commenter Tonkatoy sends in this 1984 yearbook ad for Super Slide And Arcade which was apparently another incarnation of The Zoom Flume. It was slated to open in May of 1984. I don't recall that one at all. I've added Super Slide to the post title.

UPDATE 27 April 2017 -- I'm told that if you Facebook, there is a Zoom Flume photo here

Written by ted on June 23rd, 2009

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38 Responses to 'The Zoom Flume Water Slide / Super Slide & Arcade, 107 Calvin Drive / 5959 Two Notch Road: 1980'

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  1. I remember this place distinctly, though I never had the pleasure of actually visiting. It was always one of those places we bugged our parents about going, but never got around to apparently.

    Perhaps the electric fence is there to keep people away from the still-intact concrete "flumes?"

    Brian

    24 Jun 09 at 7:18 am

  2. I remember the long walk up the hill in a wet bathing suit. Chafing!

    Midnight Rambler

    24 Jun 09 at 10:41 am

  3. Our daycare used to take a trip there 2-3 times each summer, and I remember seeing the slides after they closed. As I recall, there were 4 concrete slides that were cut into the hill that had a smooth plaster finish. They basically cut a gentle snaking path down to a pool at the bottom. You would slide down on a mat of some sort. Very different from the fiberglass slides you find around these days.

    Larry

    26 Jun 09 at 2:20 pm

  4. For years after it closed, there was still a section of the concret flumes up that REALLY tall hill. I dont know if that was the section where that girl was killed or not? Only thing I remember hearing was that some people were clowing around and were told not too, but some girl didnt listen and went down the slide head first, but I guess as she picked up some speed, she slammed head first into one of the turns, and needless to say, it was rather nasty. Can you imagine being behind her or down at the bottom of that hill in the pool and see something like that oozing down the slide?? I wouldnt have gone there ever again knowing that. I bet that place is still haunted too. I dont know if there's anything left of the slide or not..is there? Anyone else remember this story or what happened?

    Del

    27 Jun 09 at 5:25 pm

  5. I think I remember a story about that, Del, but then that's the kind of urban legend that often gets told about water slides and roller coasters.

    Brian

    29 Jun 09 at 8:22 am

  6. I remember hearing that story about someone at Myrtle Beach, maybe, in the early 1970s.

    badger

    29 Jun 09 at 8:32 am

  7. I remember always wanting to go there when I was a very small child. My day care required you to be in at least the first grade to go. I think it must have closed without notice, because I remember finally being old enough to go and riding the bus all the way there to find it out of business. The day care took us to the Trenholm Park sprinkler instead. This was a total bummer as trips to the sprinkler were generally reserved for kids who hadn't passed swim lessons yet.

    jb

    29 Jun 09 at 3:18 pm

  8. I LOVED the Zoom Flume! went there a few times, that hill was so freakin long! I remember even at 8-10 years old thinking that the hike up that hill probably wasn't worth the time you spent walking uphill! Though they were pretty smooth, you could skin yourself up good on the "flumes' if you didn't watch out. I remember getting some good side wall action during the ride. If i recall correctly they used foam mats for everybody to ride on.

    CE

    21 Aug 09 at 1:52 pm

  9. Zoom Flume!!! I remember going there after summer high school football practice. That was around 1983 or 1984. Good times!!!!

    Rich

    13 Oct 09 at 2:24 pm

  10. Finally! A name to go along with the eerie, white remnants of water slides I used to see in high school in the late 90's on the orange hill/cliff near the car dealerships on Two Notch. I remember asking people about them and nobody ever knew what I was talking about and most didn't believe me. I wish I had taken pictures back then because last time I looked, I couldn't find them. I had an obsession with water slides growing up, so I always wondered what the story was and wished they were still around.

    ME

    12 Jun 10 at 12:44 am

  11. I had always heard this place referred to as the superslide.

    Amanda

    7 Jul 10 at 10:22 am

  12. Wow..I had totally forgotten about this place !

    Ryan

    21 Jul 10 at 9:31 pm

  13. I have an old HS annual that has an ad in the back for Super Slide and snacks. Grand opening was May 1, 1984. Said it was a mile west of Columbia Mall.

    Same place?

    tonkatoy

    15 Dec 10 at 7:36 am

  14. I think it would have to be.

    ted

    15 Dec 10 at 12:42 pm

  15. Address was listed as 5959 Two Notch Road. Looks like the same place on Bin maps.

    tonkatoy

    15 Dec 10 at 2:00 pm

  16. Interesting. I wonder if someone bought the Zoom Flume site and re-opened. If you have a scan of that ad, I'll certainly post it.

    ted

    15 Dec 10 at 2:25 pm

  17. I'll see what I can do...

    tonkatoy

    15 Dec 10 at 3:19 pm

  18. I used to there as a kid with Creative Day Care in the early 80's. The only thing I remember is that the side walks up to the chutes tore your feet up.

    Tim

    12 Jan 11 at 9:51 pm

  19. Went there on several occasions. You road down on those thick foam/rubber mats. It was fun, but got old after a while. You had to move out of the way quickly at the bottom, or the next person would land right on top of you. Good times!

    palmettopanic

    25 May 11 at 1:36 pm

  20. ooops.....rode down.

    palmettopanic

    25 May 11 at 1:37 pm

  21. Before the Zoom Flume there was a large pink stucco house on the top of the hill. It burned in the mid 70's. My understanding is that there was a grape vineyard on the hillside at one point.

    Rhett

    25 Aug 11 at 8:58 pm

  22. Yes, "The Pink House" was very much a local landmark, and yet another thing I wish I had thought to take pictures of.

    ted

    25 Aug 11 at 9:35 pm

  23. The Zoom Flume! My first experience on waterslides, and I loved it. That said, I can't remember if I went more than once, but I do remember the long walk and that the slides were cement which I've hardly ever seen again - it probably pre-dated whatever factories made the fiberglass segments used since, but I could be embellishing... and I remember them sitting up on the hill for me to stare at long after they went under. I know I would have gone ten times as often if my parents had been willing to fund the expeditions...

    Blaine

    26 Aug 11 at 1:50 pm

  24. When and why did the Zoom Flume close??? I went there one time in the summer of 1983 as Z-96 was doing a remote with Benji Norton, Harold "Catdaddy" Miller and several other station personalities. It was fun, affordable, and it saved you from having to drive to Myrtle Beach if you wanted to waterslide. That thing sat on the side of what could have passed for a small mountain there off of Two Notch Rd beneath WOLO-TVs original broadcast tower. Too bad it closed down.

    Tom Seay

    30 Oct 11 at 11:28 am

  25. We need more waterparks today. The Zoom Flume was a good precursor to water parks. The ocean is too far for many people, and lakes are too filthy and offer little to no public access. Case in point, Lake Murray.

    Tom Seay

    5 Nov 11 at 10:09 am

  26. Lake Murray is just as polluted as the Saluda and Congaree Rivers.

    Del

    5 Nov 11 at 10:22 pm

  27. To get more waterparks, you need less lawyers.

    tonkatoy

    7 Nov 11 at 7:47 am

  28. I wouldn't doubt that. I live in Dillon county and we don't have anything waterpark unless we drive to Myrtle Beach. I guess we have to but an above ground pool with an elivated slide if we want to enjoy a waterslide around here.

    Tom Seay

    24 Nov 11 at 10:01 am

  29. I think there's one on Post and one in Orangeburg..

    ted

    24 Nov 11 at 10:06 am

  30. I want one in Florence, dude LOL!!!!

    Tom Seay

    24 Nov 11 at 10:13 am

  31. I visited the Flume a few times as a child and I saw that my mom has a few photos of it if any one is interested in seeing them. You may see yourself as a child in one of the shots, lol.. leave message if interested.

    Darrell Goforth

    5 Mar 12 at 11:05 pm

  32. @Darrell,

    If you are willing to have them posted here, I will certainly put them up!

    Ted

    email me at "closings at columbiaclosings dto com"

    ted

    5 Mar 12 at 11:17 pm

  33. Classmates and I were talking about Upside Down Charley's (Charlie's) Trailer Sales. Does anyone remember it? I want to say it was closer to the Perkins Pankcakes or Zoom Flume and Pink House than Chappy's and the Peanut Man.

    Becky Pittman

    19 Aug 12 at 9:35 pm

  34. I was a young girl...probably about 6 or 7 when it burned down. They repaired/reconstructed it, but I believe that other accident happened after it burned. My dad took us down to see it...seeing that fire scared me half to death!

    Layla

    14 Oct 13 at 11:07 am

  35. I was a young girl...probably about 6 or 7 when it burned down. They repaired/reconstructed it, but I believe that other accident happened after it burned. My dad took us down to see it...seeing that fire scared me half to death!

    Layla

    14 Oct 13 at 11:07 am

  36. I can remember going there as a child back in the 70's. Had lots of good times. Still remember going down the chute and losing mu mat half way and sliding the rest of the way on the concrete. Skinned and bruised my arms and legs but it was fun.

    Joseph Hutto

    4 Mar 17 at 2:41 pm

  37. I lived close to Zoom Flume and went there many times. Trust me when I say nobody ever got killed there. Total urban legend.

    Christina

    4 Mar 17 at 6:32 pm

  38. Tonkatoy, this is a different place from the one that opened in 1984. I used to go to this place around 1976/77/78. Last time I was there about 10 of us were training down it together. I was in the middle of the pack and when we hit the shallow pool, all the people in the back plowed over the top of us towards the front scrapping the heck out of the top of my foot. This place was so much fun though, except for the long walk back to the top of course.

    David Acton

    7 Aug 19 at 9:08 pm

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