Construction has yet to begin on the new splash pad at Homesteader Park, but the city is already thinking about making an upgrade.

Work is set to begin early this spring on the roughly $550,000 project, which will include fountains, cannons, sprayers and other water features. The facility replaces the city’s former wading pool, and elements of the design are intended as an homage to the “Frog Pond.”

However, unlike the old wading pool, the design does not include a bathroom.

At Monday night’s city council meeting, Councilman Floyd Young said he’s heard some concerns from a staffer at the nearby Powell Aquatic Center, who’s worried about an influx of people using the pool’s restrooms; Young said the employee told him, “I don’t want to be cleaning up after all those little kids.”

Those at the splash pad won’t necessarily have to turn to the aquatic center’s facilities: The Homesteader Park rest area isn’t too much further away, and “you could always put a porta-potty, I guess, there,” Young offered. But City Administrator Zack Thorington said his ultimate goal is to add a small bathroom for the splash pad, “just so you don’t have a lot of that foot traffic” at the pool.

A bathroom was discussed during the planning stages, but Thorington said it wasn’t possible to include one in the $250,000 federal grant that’s helping pay for the project. He told the council to “stay tuned.”

The splash pad is set to be completed by Memorial Day and contractor Crown Construction of Mills has said it will hit that deadline.

Thorington indicated there had been some uncertainty about when the water features would arrive and whether that might delay the project, but the items were delivered to the city weeks ago.

“They’re sitting in cold storage on pallets,” Thorington said, “waiting.”