Jerry Ivey Park Splash Pad Project Moves Forward with $650,000 Budget

The City of Salina is moving forward with plans to construct a splash pad at Jerry Ivey Park, with city officials reporting progress on the project during the recent commission meeting.

After an initial request for proposals yielded no bids earlier this summer, the Parks and Recreation Department changed its approach, targeting splash pad manufacturers directly with a design-build process. This new strategy proved successful, generating 10 proposals from six different vendors by the August 28 deadline.

"We said what can we do for $650,000. That was our budget," explained Parks and Rec Director Jeff Hammond during the meeting. The proposals are all within the established budget parameters, with the total project cost estimated between $680,000 and $720,000 when including the city's responsibilities for final utility hookups, site preparation, and hiring plumbers and electricians.

This represents a significant cost reduction from earlier estimates. The original bid received for a more comprehensive project that included a splash pad, water wall, and memorial updates was approximately $1.8 million, with the splash pad portion alone estimated at $1.1 million.

Staff members are currently evaluating the proposals based on criteria including experience, design features, layout, and warranty. The highest-scoring proposal will be presented to the City Commission for approval on September 22.

The project timeline aims to have the splash pad operational for the summer of 2026.

The splash pad is part of planned improvements at Jerry Ivey Park, which also include the recent relocation of the "Poco" turtle sculpture for storage and refurbishment. Officials mentioned future plans to update both bathrooms at the park similar to renovations completed at other park facilities.