The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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October 31, 2009

Hoover Park to be site of Enid’s newest SplashPad

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer

Hoover Park will be the site of the city’s newest SplashPad, which is expected to be completed by the spring.

“That area has a high population of younger kids, it’s near Hayes School,” said Jim McClain, Enid Public Works director, of the park at Hoover and Oklahoma.

The SplashPad is designed for use by everyone from toddlers to teens and is separated into areas that appeal more to various age groups. It will be larger than the first SplashPad in Enid at Gore Park. The new SplashPad will have 37 features, the Gore Park pad has 23 features.

One end is a toddler bay with a number of geysers that shoot water up, a waterbug and spray arches children can run through, along with directional jets.

The geysers include a foaming geyser which children place their hands on to feel the texture of the water and a ground geyser that emits gentle, vertical streams of water. The waterbug looks like a fountain with a geyser in the middle, plus five smaller jets around it.

In the center is the family bay with rainbow arches that spray a mist of water, an aqua dome, fountain spray, bucket trio and flower that dumps a bucket of water.

On the opposite side is the teen bay with a serpent spray, loop cannons, jet cylinder spray and tricky bells that fill buckets with water that then dump on those standing beneath them.

“There was only about $1,500 difference in the cost. We got a good bid, but there will be extra cost to install it,” McClain said.

Small features are as costly to build as large items because of the piping and fixtures that must be installed, mostly underground. City crews will perform that work, he said. Gore Park was the first SplashPad installed and has proven a success, which led the way for the construction of the second pad. McClain said SplashPads are starting to take the place of swimming pools in many communities, because they are less costly and easier to maintain.

“SplashPads are replacing swimming pools in many places. You don’t need lifeguards and the kids like to play around in the water anyway,” he said.

The pad for the equipment and off-street parking will be installed first, and eventually playground equipment will be added, then fencing and a place for parents to sit while their children play. In the future, restrooms also will be added, along with lighting.

“We want to make it a good park,” he said.

The SplashPad will be a work in progress for three to four years to create a whole park.

“It’s expensive. We could do a lot of things, depending on what the council wants,” he said.

The equipment is provided by RJR Enterprises, which is owned by an Enid High School graduate.

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