At its February meeting, Fort Thomas City Council agreed to set aside a plan to add a splash park in Highland Hills Park and is instead exploring a potential pickleball court instead.
During construction of the One Highland Building, city staff used the fill from the project to build up a section of the park. Since then, cross-country teams from local schools have been using the spot for practices and meets.
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan included the splash park on a list of possible new amenities for Highland Hills, but when the project came up for discussion last year, public support was mixed. After further discussion, council approved the development of a design plan for the project and asked staff to do preliminary pricing.
“We received the initial planning and construction bid for the existing splash park design. After much discussion, a lot of ideas going back and forth, we did decide to make a motion to explore other options for the Highland Hills Park fill area,” said Jeff Bezold, chair of the committee.
Meeting a changing demand
“The conversation has revolved around what is different now than it was when the community plan came out eight years ago … The splash area at Tower Park has been expanded. The want in this area for a splash pad has decreased. And so we decided to open the floor up and bring it to council as a whole …to get everybody’s input on what we should put down there,” said Bezold.
City Administrator Matt Kremer said with budget coming up, it’s important to decide what will be there to account for that in the budget. He noted there had been talk of a possible pickleball court, and the city was already planning for a soccer field. Right now, he said, sewer work is being completed in the area.
“The previous council was supportive of the splash park because it was a high priority in the community plan,” said Mayor Eric Haas. “The feeling now is that maybe that’s not the way we want to go. Bringing this up at this meeting tonight gives the public the understanding now that we may not be moving forward with a splash park.”
The facility would be very near the Fort Thomas Swim Club. In fact, access to that section of the park runs through some of the club’s property. The swim club had concerns about traffic and parking. The city approached the club to see if a trade could be worked out, but club members voted against the proposal.
One of the biggest issues with the proposed splash park has been the ongoing costs.
“When talking about the splash park, the only number I’ve seen is $527,000 to build it. Is that correct? So, do we have a number on how much it will cost per year to maintain?” asked council member Andy Ellison.
“If there’s something other than a splash park like pickleball courts or fields, you don’t have an annual expense that you can tack onto this. This isn’t just $527,000. That is the initial payment,” he said, adding that preparing and maintaining a splash park would cost a lot more than blowing leaves or cutting grass for a pickleball court or practice field.
“My biggest concern is the location,” said council member Lauren McIntosh. “I own a pool company, so I know pools and spas. When you get a heavy rain come September and October, the maintenance is going to be something… All the water running down, there’s going to be a lot of debris and everything just funneling straight into that splash pad….and everything is going up in our industry right now. So those numbers might look different than they did from two years ago. That’s just something to consider,” she said.
Council member Adam Blau noted the Tower Park location was better suited to a splash park with a playground, shelter, restrooms and lots of parking located near the proposed site. He also noted city recreation employees are located in the park and would be available in case any issues arose.
“Eight years ago when this was talked about no one had done it, and nobody had experience in the area, what kind of problems could come with it,” he said. He then put in a good word for pickleball, noting it could be played 10 months out of the year.
Blau made a motion to reject the splash park and to research other ideas, including pickleball and bocce ball. Ellison seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.