By ELIZABETH WEBB
For the Daily Press
About 15 years ago, any family with children in Artesia likely routinely visited the Splash Pad in the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Recreation Complex.
But then in 2020, the Splash Pad — the concrete slab adorned with various water features just south of the skate park — was suddenly defunct and inoperable. It was in desperate need of repair, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, those types of repairs just weren’t possible.
Now, four years later, a brand-new, upgraded Splash Pad is set to be unveiled in July.
“I can’t wait for the new splash pad,” said Victoria Lynchesky, who has a 4-year-old daughter. “It’ll be nice to have a family-friendly activity to beat the heat. My daughter has only ever experienced the splash pads in neighboring towns, so it’ll be a great value added to Artesia.”
City Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair said the plan is to have the construction completed by the Fourth of July weekend.
“It’ll be a horse’s race to get to that point, but we’re going to do our best,” he added.
The city received $360,000 in grant money for the rehabilitation project and then pitched in an additional $100,000 of city funds.
The city started looking at the Splash Pad needs in 2022 when Artesians were requesting its comeback en masse.
“When we dug into it, we saw that the Splash Pad had aged quite a bit from being out of use,” Landfair said.
The city then asked Artesians for input on the future of the Splash Pad, giving four options:
- Option 1: For $5,000-$7,000, the Infrastructure Department estimated it could repair 90% of the Splash Pad for an undetermined time period.
- Option 2: $125,000-$175,000 would fund new plumbing and render the Splash Pad fully operable in its then-current state but would leave obsolete parts that would eventually need replacing.
- Option 3: A complete tear-out and rebuild, making it new, enlarged and upgraded.
- Option 4: The Splash Pad would be permanently removed.
The public overwhelmingly wanted Option 3 — a complete upgrade.
“So we listened, we reinvested, and we’re getting a brand-new one,” Landfair said.
The new Splash Pad will be even larger, Landfair said, by about one-third the size. Additionally, the new equipment will monitor itself, eliminating the need for staff to oversee the facility.
Right now, the infrastructure department is just waiting for some embed parts to come in before they start pouring the concrete. In the meantime, the restrooms located nearby will soon undergo renovations.
