FAYETTEVILLE — Residents will finally know where the new splash pad in Walker Park will go after the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved the location Monday night.
Members of the board voted unanimously to put the splash pad in the northwest corner of the park, which beat out plans for two other possible locations.
The second option would have put the splash pad closer to the southwest corner of the park, taking the spot of one of the baseball fields, while the third option had the splash pad in the southeast corner of the park, between 13th Street and the tennis and basketball courts, according to the Parks and Recreation Department conceptual drawings.
Board member Richie Lamb said he liked the first option because it’s closer to the west side of the park where there are more residents. He also supported the Park and Recreation staff’s recommendation because it added more amenities to the northern part of the park. Lamb said he was hesitant about the other two options because of their proximity to other features of the park including the baseball fields, picnic areas and playground.
“Concentrating our resources in the one corner could lead to more problems,” Lamb said. “People could then start complaining about not having enough bathrooms or enough seating.”
The first option was the most popular choice among residents, results showed after staff from the department compiled votes from their May 24 public meeting and online comments. Of the three locations, 45 people voted for the first option, 15 for the second and six voted for the third, said Ken Eastin, the city’s park planner.
One drawback for the location is the lack of restrooms in that corner of the park. While there’s no room in the department’s budget now, a fix for the interim would be to set up porta-potties, board member Chuck Maxwell said.
A bathroom would be added to the area in the longterm, Eastin said.
Now that the department has a location for the pad and its already fully funded, the next step is for Eastin to draw up final design plans to send out to vendors and contractors for approval, he said. The whole process could take up to three months.
Connie Edmonston, the director for Parks and Recreation, said she anticipates construction for the splash pad to begin sometime in the fall but that it would be operational by the spring of 2018.
Eastin said the department wants to install a splash pad that uses a recirculating system that would reuse the water.
The excess water would be stored underground, along with a treatment system. This form of the splash pad would cost more money to install, which means the department would have less to go toward the “play value” of the pad, Eastin said.
The other design option for the pad would be to use potable water that can only be used one time. It would be cheaper to install and would allow more play items to be put in, but the department wouldn’t be able to conserve water as easily as they would with the recirculating system.
Alexander Nicoll may be reached by email at [email protected] .