Spraygrounds to be built around the city
Since we no longer have swimming pools at most of the neighborhood parks, I'm glad to see the city adding some sort of water feature back to local parks.
The fountains in Bricktown have been a hit for years now. There's little maintenance.
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"Spraygrounds plan still on tap
By Bryan Dean
The Oklahoman
A proposal to build spraygrounds at Oklahoma City parks is going forward despite the possibility the city's financial deal with the New Orleans Hornets could cut into reserve funds that would pay for the plan.
City Manager Jim Couch said brisk Hornets ticket sales and a strong response from the corporate community made him more confident about recommending the council build as many as six spraygrounds.
"I feel a heck of a lot better about it now than I did a week ago," Couch said. "There could be some impact from the Hornets, or we could make money from the Hornets. We don't know yet."
Spraygrounds are an alternative to traditional pools. They feature jets of water activated when a child moves, pulls a lever or pushes a button. Spraygrounds are cheaper to operate and safer than pools because they immediately drain water, meaning lifeguards are not needed.
The city has one sprayground at Lippert Park, 5500 S Shartel Ave. Couch suggested building more in August.
Reserve could fund plans
The city keeps a reserve fund of between 6 percent and 10 percent of the general fund budget of $288 million. Better-than-expected revenues and some unexpected savings have boosted the reserve fund to more than $30 million, or about 11 percent of the budget, Couch said.
Couch told council members they could vote to free up $3 million to $4 million to pay for capital projects such as streets and spraygrounds and still keep the reserve fund at a comfortable level.
Council members were enthusiastic about the idea and directed city staff to make recommendations on where to put spraygrounds.
Then the Hornets came to town.
The financial deal the city agreed to with the National Basketball Association puts up to $5.3 million of city money at risk if the Hornets fail to meet revenue goals. Couch said that money could come from the reserve fund.
Couch said the public response to the Hornets makes it unlikely the city will have to dip that far into its reserves.
"We are proceeding just like the council directed me to," Couch said. "It's their decision, but I'm still going to go forward."
City seeks locations
Deciding where to put the spraygrounds is the next step. Parks Director Wendel Whisenhunt said his staff will make those recommendations in the next two to three weeks.
"We are looking for areas of high density of children ages 0-14," Whisenhunt said. "Nearness to other pools will also be considered. There are some technical considerations like how far is it to a water line."
The spraygrounds cost about $260,000 each. The city has closed many of its pools in the last decade, and the council has discussed ways to improve the aquatics system. A consultant study recently recommended a full renovation plan that would cost $64 million.
Funding for such a plan is not in the city's budget.
Once city staff makes its recommendations, the final decision on how many spraygrounds to build and where to locate them will be made by the council.
"It is very clear to us that children love these," Whisenhunt said. "The Lippert spray- ground is very successful. They are popular in every city they've been installed in." "
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