The City of Powell is asking for up to $250,000 in grant funds, and promising to match that amount, in order to build a splash pad to replace the old frog pond at Homesteader Park. 

At a Monday night meeting, city council unanimously voted to submit an application to the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources for a 2022 Land & Water Conservation Fund Grant for up to $250,000 to support funding the Homesteader Splash Pad. 

The deadline to submit an application is Nov. 30, although the final part of the grant process isn’t scheduled until next August. Mayor John Wetzel said at a prior meeting that the project would have a good shot at being at least partially funded judging by the boxes the city is able to check in regards to the project. 

“We’ve utilized this money before, had very little problems,” Wetzel said Monday. “We go through quite a process, but at the end we get a splash pad.”

Splash pads have been popping up around the region. Ten Sleep has had one for years, Cody’s pad at Mentock Park is already well established after only being open a few years and one is under construction in Lovell.

“I think it’s a great idea,” council member Floyd Young said. 

Powell City Manager Zack Thorington said previously that a big splash pad in Powell — there is already a small one at Plaza Diane — could be less costly than the “intricate” one in Cody or the smaller one in Lovell if it was installed where the frog pond was, sewer and water is already in place. He said knowing what those cost, he would estimate it would cost $400,000-$500,000, with half funded by the grant. 

The push for a splash pad isn’t new. In 2020, the city put one on its list of projects to fund if the general purpose sales tax ballot measure was passed. A large majority of voters voted against that measure.