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By GLEN WERLING
Remember when you were a kid and your parents turned on the sprinkler or the garden hose when it was so hot outside? Remember how good it felt to dance around in the cool sprays of water?
Imagine that on a much grander scale and you have a splash pad, a feature that the Ossian Department of Parks and Recreation is hoping to add to one of the parks in Ossian.
“The younger families in Ossian talked to us park board members at different times about building a swimming pool in Ossian,” said Bill Crane, park board president.
“In lieu of a pool, which would be cost prohibitive, they suggested a splash pad,” he added.
The idea of a splash pad has been over a year in the making. Park board members have thoroughly researched the matter. “As far as the insurance is concerned, it made sense because it would not add that much to the town’s liability premium,” said Crane. “There’s no ponding of water, so a lifeguard will not be required.”
The park board decided that it would be a feature that could be operated by the kids themselves. It will turn off automatically after 10 minutes to limit wasting of water. “That’s another feature that makes it less of an ongoing cost to the town,” noted Crane, who added that winterizing the park will also not cost very much.
The initial cost will vary between $65,000 and $75,000. Governing the cost will be how much funds the park board can raise for the park.
That’s right, the park board hopes to not have to use any tax dollars to build the park. Fundraisers, donations and possibly grants are planned to pay 100 percent of the splash pad’s construction.
The first planned fundraiser was a rib fest to be held this past Saturday. However, the fest was postponed indefinitely because of a conflict with the Ossian Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) chicken fundraiser. The board is currently considering other fundraisers.
Individual donations are also being accepted. Checks may be made payable to the Town of Ossian earmarked as “Splash Pad Donation.” A separate fund has been established within the park board budget exclusively for paying for the construction of the splash pad.
“We expect it to take between one and two years to raise enough money for a splash pad,” added Crane.
An exact location for the pad has not yet been chosen because Crane and his fellow park board members would like it to be the first feature installed at the Archbold Wilson Park. However, development of the 65-acre park has been placed on hold for about a year for several reasons, mainly surrounding an issue of stormwater drainage.
The two alternative locations include Maplewood Park, behind the Town Hall, and Melching Park. The park board is leaning more toward Maplewood Park because of its more central location.
Crane also wanted to make it clear that the splash pad isn’t just for residents of Ossian. “This is an Ossian-Jefferson Twp. project and we really invite people from throughout the county to participate in the use of the facilities,” said Crane. Donations will also be accepted from anyone.