Imperial to begin seeking bids for shade over splash pad
IMPERIAL — This city will begin seeking bids to construct a shade structure over the water splash pad at Eager Park.
Last year, the city removed the shade structure previously installed over the splash pad due to damage it had sustained over time.
During its regular meeting Wednesday, the City Council unanimously approved opening up the bidding process for a replacement.
The city is willing to spend up to $98,000 in Capital Improvements Program grant funds on the project.
The blueprint presented Wednesday describes a shade structure that will provide far more shade than what was previously installed.
The previous structure was two yellow poles with a fabric top that provided partial shade over the pad.
In early 2019, the poles were removed due to corrosion and other damage they had sustained over time.
Since then, city staff worked to gather replacement options for the council to review.
At the June 3 council meeting, the council was presented with four options, which ranged in price from $57,000 to $160,000 (labor cost included).
The options ranged in size from 50 feet to 72 feet — a much wider coverage area than previous structure was providing.
Three of those options were fabric tops, and one had multi-rib metal roofing.
Councilman Robert
Amparano said he liked the metal roof option, as it would last longer than anything else.
Amparano cited the example of Sunbeam Lake in El Centro, as the park there has metal roofing.
“And their stuff seems to be lasting quite a bit,” he said.
Imperial Parks Superintendent Tony Lopez agreed the lifespan of a metal roof would outlast a fabric roof.
“With the wind and sun beating down on those fabric shade tops, metal roofing is always going to be the better option,” he said.
With that in mind, city staff developed a blueprint and presented it during Wednesday’s meeting.
The new design is a 40-foot-by-60-foot metal, waterproof shade structure with a gable roof that would cover the splash pad.
Lopez said the life expectancy of the structure is at least 10 years.
Mayor Pro-Tem Karin Eugenio said she hoped the city’s parks would be open by the time the structure is installed, as the parks remain closed in precaution to COVID-19.
Mayor Darrell Pechtl chuckled and said the “parks are going to open way before” the structure is installed, as the city has been trying to get one installed for some time now.