A petition started on Change.org for a splash pad inside the city of Lampasas is gaining momentum.
In less than two weeks, the online petition started by Lampasas resident Ashley McCoy has garnered more than 650 signatures.
McCoy said she has been surprised by the feedback from other residents.
“I really thought people were going to be mean about it, because you never know, but there were so many supportive people,” she said.
McCoy, the mother of a 4-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl, spends a lot of time with her children at the Hanna Springs Swimming Pool during the summertime to cool off. Also, the trio spend time in San Saba and other Central Texas communities visiting various local parks.
“I noticed one day that there are splash pads in every town around us but here,” McCoy said. “We have a lot of people in our town that can’t really afford to pay to go to the public pools. So, I just thought if we could have something we could put for free that people could take their little kids to, it would be nice.”
McCoy reached out to city staff and had a meeting with Recreation Specialist Bailey Carter last Wednesday. Carter told the Dispatch Record that a splash pad is not out of the realm of possibility, but it would come with a significant price tag.
“Conservatively, just for a splash pad, you are looking at $250,000 to $275,000, just for a smaller splash pad,” Carter said. “That doesn't include your utilities or land acquisition. Now, there are grant opportunities that can help match those funds, but we would need to have a financial backer for those.”
Carter added that a splash pad purchase would require approval of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board before making its way to the Lampasas City Council.
If the splash pad did receive the final OK, it could take some time before it is completed.
“When I worked for the city of Killeen, we did some renovations on the splash pad there,” she said. “Even renovations on the splash pad take up to a year. It is not going to be like we flipped a switch and got a splash pad. It is going to take time.”
As for a potential splash pad location, McCoy believes the 580 Sports Park would be a good choice. However, with the city’s plans to expand the park for youth sports, Carter said that location likely is unrealistic.
“If we are looking in the direction of additional fields to host these tournaments which council has made comments about getting more tournaments in Lampasas for baseball, softball and soccer, then we can’t have both of those at the same location,” Carter said.
Along with time and planning, the city would need someone with an Aquatic Facility Operator endorsement on their certification to monitor a splash pad. Currently, Carter is the only person on the city staff with that requisite endorsement.
Nonetheless, a splash pad is not completely out of the question for Lampasas.
“There are a lot of things that the city and citizens will have to do to make this happen,” Carter said. “I do think down the line it can have benefits, but we are 50 steps away at this point from achieving that.”