CBID moves closer on downtown Fort Smith splash pad

Downtown Fort Smith is one step closer to realizing a dream first proposed in 2010 following a presentation at Tuesday's (Nov. 19) Central Business Improvement District meeting of a splash pad with a firm budget estimate.

The splash pad, to be installed on a plot of land west of the Park at West End, would be about 2,500 square feet in size and feature several different spray and splash components that would be activated only when a person touches a designated button, resulting in a water flow that would last for anywhere between eight and 15 minutes.

The design is distinctive, using long steel pipes bent in different patterns to spray and drop water from above during the summer months and also provide what many could consider a display of public art during the cooler months of the year when the splash pad is not in use. Also included in the design is a rubberized surface to prevent children and adults from slipping and injuring themselves.

The splash pad is being designed by Water Odyssey, the same company that designed the choreographed water shows at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The estimated cost of the splash pad presented at Tuesday's meeting is $326,000, according to former Parks Commission Chairman Bobby Aldridge. The total, he said, was slightly above the $300,000 total originally allocated for the project.

"I feel confident that we can take care of that in the site work installation and some modifications to the filtration system on the $145,000 (initial estimate for a filtration system," he told the CBID. "I didn't want to come in here and show you something that I knew the cost was in excess of $300,000. I wanted to be upfront and honest and show you that we're just slightly over budget but we're working to get to that $300,000 limit."

The funds for the project include $150,000 in private donations solicited by CBID members and an additional $150,000 in funding from the eighth cent sales tax to fund parks projects passed by voters in 2012.

Estimates for the project first presented in 2010 were $200,000, while an updated estimate in May 2013 placed the estimate around $250,000.

Aldridge said the biggest drain on funding the project was the filtration system, which would include in-ground storage tanks and filtration to collect water once it has drained from the splash pad, filter it and allow it to be re-used versus using fresh water from the city's public utility and all runoff flowing into the city's sewer system and eventually into the Arkansas River.

According to Aldridge, not recycling water would result in an annual water bill to the Parks and Recreation Department of about $30,000. At that rate, five years of water bills would nearly equal the cost of the filtration system.

The water bill would not be charged to the CBID, but instead could be charged to the Parks Department, according to Fort Smith Parks and Recreation Director Mike Alsup. He added that the Parks and Recreation Department had reached an agreement with the Fort Smith Utility Department to provide water free of charge to the splash pad at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, something which he said was also a likely situation for the proposed splash pad downtown.

Even though the project is over the $300,000 set aside for the project, at least one member of the CBID is hoping to see the project fully funded.

"It seems to me that we're getting pretty close money-wise. I suspect there's enough talent in this room to go out and do what he's shown and maybe a little more," CBID Chairman Richard Griffin said.

Even though there is a push from Griffin to raise the needed funds, Aldridge said he was looking to still bring the project in at $300,000 as agreed upon by the CBID and the Parks Department.

"I really hope we can take that $146,000 number and decrease it significantly," he said. "And one option to almost do away with it in its entirety is if we are indeed going to use a phase two option, build a building in the future – build a restroom facility or pavilion or something like that – is if we can get a defined phasing plan that within five years we're going to have this facility, then the utility department would be much more (open) to having a temporary waste system."

The Commission voted to move forward with the project. The next phase will be taking the project to the Parks Commission for approval of designs and quickly moving to accept bids and start construction early next year.

According to Aldridge, should the plan be approved, construction would likely take 90 to 120 days. Griffin said he hoped for a July 4 opening date at the latest.