The sign at Ottawa Metro Park informs visitors the beach is closed permanently.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — The beach at the swimming pond at Ottawa Metro Park may have a sign posted that reads “beach closed permanently,” but the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District has a goal to reimagine the space to include a splash pad next year.
JAMPD Executive Director Tyler Black said the pond will remain to provide fishing and potentially canoeing and kayaking. The splash pad will be 4,000 to 6,000 square feet, ADA accessible, and will provide different spaces for different age groups.
“We have taken a few visits to other local and non-local splash pads to see design ideas and we have been able to ask operators the pros and cons of operating their systems. We do know that kids and kids at heart love to see a big water bucket as a main feature,” Black said in an email.
Repurposing the space will cost almost $1 million and the organization is looking for additional funding like grants to make the cost less for taxpayers, Black said. Funding was requested through the state capital bill this year but it was not received.
“The Park District is poised to fund the construction of the splash pad through a combination of grants, Park District Foundation Funds, and general capital expenses through the Park District (if need be). We will be submitting grants through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as the next step in the process,” Black said.
Putting in a splash pad alleviates the need for lifeguards, which became more costly and harder to find for the organization over the last few years.
“Every summer we would set out to hire a minimum of 10 seasonal lifeguards and over time the cost to hire those guards and the lack of interest in life guarding became pretty large hurdles,” Black said. “The cost to hire seasonal staff year-over-year has dramatically increased since late 2018.”
Half of the job of putting the splash pad in is already complete as the groundwork is already there.
“The infrastructure for the splash pad is already in place. There will be some re-routing of infrastructure near and around the beach house, but for the most part it is already in place,” Black said. “The splash pad, like many, will recycle water (what is referred to as a recirculating system) and will be treated as many pools are. Operational costs are mainly for materials like chemicals and water, rather than personnel expenses (in our experience, like many, personnel expenses have always been higher).”
Black said the beach had about 6,000 visitors per season over the past six years with an average of 65 open days per year, equating to about 90 visitors per day.
“We desire for people to know that we never planned to take away an amenity that we offer. It was pretty obvious from the onset of the decision to close the beach that an aquatic facility on the east side of Allen County is still needed. We know this from surveys we have taken of the public over the last few years,” Black said.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
