Conway’s Laurel Park splash pad delayed

CONWAY — Residents of Conway will have to wait a little longer to play in the cool water of Laurel Park’s splash pad.

The city’s first splash pad will not be open Wednesday for the Fourth of July holiday as hoped, said Steve Ibbotson, director of Conway Parks and Recreation.

He said four shade structures that are integral to the splashpad design have not been received from the manufacturer in Georgia.

“Everything was ordered immediately,” he said. All materials arrived except for the shade structures, which had a June 22 delivery date, Ibbotson said.

“It’s no fault of the contractor; it was the supplier,” Ibbotson said.

The contractor is RJR Enterprises of Rogers.

“Really, it all boils down to you can’t finish until you get your shade structures because they’re built into that pad,” he said. The shade structures cover picnic tables on the concrete pad.

The city has had test runs of the water features, “and they work great,” he said.

The 5,500-square-foot splash pad will accommodate 500 people. It will include three activity bays: toddler, family and action. These activity bays will offer a variety of play areas containing dynamic water elements tailored to various ages and abilities. The splash pad will be free for public use and will be handicapped-accessible.

Candy Jones, the city’s grant administrator, said the splash pad will cost $330,000. Half of the funding will be provided by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and half by Conway Advertising and Promotion funds.

In addition to the splash pad, parking will be expanded, and an additional pavilion will be constructed, complete with electric, water and sewer amenities.

Laurel Park is south of Conway High School on Prince Street, but the splash pad is on the Robinson Avenue side of the park by the playground.

Ibbotson said he didn’t want to give a new date for the splash pad’s opening, but as soon as the shade structures arrive, “it’ll be ready to go.”

Mayor Bart Castleberry said this will be the first of many splash pads in the city.

TAMMY KEITH/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION The splash pad in Laurel Park is nearing completion, but four shade structures haven’t arrived from a manufacturer in Georgia, so the splash pad won’t be open for the Fourth of July, said Steve Ibbotson, director of Conway Parks and Recreation. He said the water features worked great on a test run.

TAMMY KEITH/RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION Gary Berry, front, and Daune Kinnard, employees of RJR Enterprises of Rogers, work to set up picnic tables at the splash pad in Laurel Park in Conway. The shade structures that will cover the tables didn’t arrive from the manufacturer in Georgia, delaying the opening of the splash pad. City officials said it will open soon but didn’t give a date.