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City Residents, Not City Officials, Control Fate Of City’s Splash Pads

As we enter the dog days of summer, it’s worth pointing out a topic that made the rounds on social media recently when temperatures hit the upper 80s — what are Jamestown’s plans for splash pads?

Dunkirk has had a splash pad in Wright Park since 2018. Mayville is discussing adding a splash pad in Lakeside Park as part of its lakefront development planning process. Warren doesn’t have a splash pad, but it does have a municipal pool.

Yet, Jamestown, with $28 million in federal stimulus money, has yet to make significant progress despite having a proposal sitting on the shelf since 2019. Splash pads for Allen and Jackson/Taylor parks costing $400,000 each were included in the Parks Department’s American Rescue Plan funding proposals but not funded in this year’s stimulus spending plan.

Part of the problem may be the fact that city residents have been fairly quiet about the proposal except for the hottest days of the summer. Some city residents have been very vocal at council meetings about neighborhood issues, but the splash pad rarely comes up in public discussions. And, perhaps there are concerns that the splash pads won’t be used given the sporadic use of the city’s existing parks equipment. It’s hard to justify spending $800,000 of public money on splash pads if there is no guarantee they will actually be used. We can also understand concerns about vandalism or destruction of the splash pads.

Many think the splash pad ball is in the city’s court. We would argue that it is actually in the court of city residents. If you want splash pads, make your case to the City Council and Mayor Eddie Sundquist. In our opinion, splash pads are a worthy addition to the city’s parks infrastructure. Those who agree with that idea should be more vocal in pushing the city along with petitions or simply attending a City Council meeting to voice their support. The squeaky wheel gets the grease –and right now, splash pads aren’t generating much noise.

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