Councilman Proposes New Splash Park For L'burg Pool

The $1 million splash park proposal will undergo some more discussion before it is voted on.

A city councilman has put forth a proposal to reconstruct the splash park at Lawrenceburg's public pool. File photo.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - A new splash park could be constructed at Lawrenceburg’s Pat O’Neill Memorial Pool

City council member Tony Abbott made a splash at Monday’s Lawrenceburg Park Board meeting when he unveiled a proposal for a new splash pad.

He called the current area for little swimmers at the city pool “obsolete.”

“One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from people is that the baby pool isn’t big enough,” Tony Abbott said. “It has seen better days and it’s costing the city a lot of money.”

Unlike the swimming pool, Abbott explained, the splash pad at the pool facility does not recycle the water which pumps through its features. Instead it is pumped through sprinklers or down a slide, then runs directly to the sewer as all new water feeds in from the city’s water supply.

Abbott’s wife, pool manager DeeDee Abbott, added that the wading pool in the splash park area is leaking two to three inches of water each day.

“I would love to see us update this and put some new stuff in there. I think it would be great for Lawrenceburg. I think it would be a big attraction for us and it would be a good thing for the citizens here,” she told the board.

The price tag is just under $1 million, according to Tony Abbott.

There was discussion of eliminating a fountain area for children to play in at the new civic park currently under construction on East High Street as a way of saving the city money. The water feature at the new park would cost $300,000, Mayor Kelly Mollaun said.

Mollaun and other members of the park board, many of whom are also city council members, wanted to see different prices if the project were to be shopped among other companies. Lawrenceburg zoning director Mike Clark and city attorney Del Weldon agreed that a project of the magnitude and cost must go through a formal bid process.

No vote on the splash park proposal was held Monday. The mayor said a meeting would be scheduled to continue the discussion.