While it’s still awaiting some finishing touches, Powell’s new splash pad is up and running.

Crews substantially completed the roughly half-million dollar project last week and the city turned on the water Tuesday.

City Parks Superintendent Tim Miller initially planned to just test the system Tuesday afternoon, but after a couple youth jumped into the water, he decided to leave it running. If the early giggles and water fights are any indication, the free new attraction at Homesteader Park will be a hit.

The pad includes dueling water cannons, spinning butterflies that drizzle water from above, water-spewing frogs, streaming cattails and a trio of buckets that periodically dump enough water to thoroughly douse anyone below.

Early attendees can get the general idea of how the features will work, but they haven’t been fully programmed just yet, as the manufacturer still needs to officially set the water pressures and sequences.

Additionally, four climbable frog, turtle and cattail statues are still coming. They — along with benches and new grass — will be installed along the perimeter of the greenish concrete pad and ring of artificial turf.

The splash pad’s opening comes eight years after the closure of the city’s “frog pond” wading pool, which fell prey to old age.

When they shuttered the wading pool, city leaders promised to replace it with a splash pad, but the project proved more expensive than expected. It was only after the city secured a $250,000 grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund in 2023 that plans moved forward.

The city brought an engineer on board that fall and hired a contractor late last summer; Crown Construction of Mills started the project this spring and had it substantially completed ahead of a Memorial Day deadline.

City Administrator Zack Thorington said Tuesday that their goal was to get the pad going “as soon as possible.”

“I know kids are just chomping” to use it, Thorington said.

Competing with the pool?

Just like the old wading pool, the splash pad is located right next to the Powell Aquatic Center. Whether the free attraction will compete with summertime admissions at the nearby pool is an open question. The city council recently agreed to hike rates at the pool, with daily admission for youth rising to $5.50 — a 50 cent increase — starting on July 1. 

“Because it’s free, will that butt into attendance at the aquatic center? We’re well aware that that might happen,” Thorington said of the splash pad at a May 5 budget meeting. “Or it may make the kids want to go in there too and want to do something. It might be a marketing ploy.”

The cost of running the splash pad should be relatively low, as, unlike a wading pool, it does not require any staffing. The main ongoing cost should be the many gallons of city water that flow through the system each time it’s activated.

Bathroom needed?

Also unlike the old wading pool, the splash pad does not have its own bathroom, which has raised some concern about an influx of nonpaying guests using the facilities at the aquatic center. At a February council meeting, Councilman Floyd Young relayed that a worker at the center “tore right into” him about the potential increase in bathroom usage — and the corresponding mess.

Thorington said then that his tentative plan was to add a small bathroom in the future, but there’s some internal disagreement.

At this month’s budget meeting, Miller said he didn’t see why youth couldn’t use the aquatic center’s facilities — also noting the bathrooms at the park’s warming hut and rest area are relatively close, too.

“In my opinion, it’s a dumb idea to put another bathroom when you got a bathroom there,” Miller said, noting that cleaning the additional restroom would be another task for his department. The only reason the frog pond had a bathroom, he added, was because it predated the aquatic center.

The council and staff have opted to take a wait-and-see approach before making any decisions about adding a bathroom.

Hours

The Homesteader Park splash pad will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, Miller said. Weather permitting, it will stay open until Labor Day.