The new Veterans Memorial Park splash pad will become a reality after the Great Bend City Council Monday night approved the design and construction for the $680,000 project.

Through the Quality-of-Life initiative, funded by a .15% sales tax passed by voters in November 2021, staff has been working with Athco LLC Lenexa for the design and construction of pad north of the bathrooms on the north side of Vets Park, Interim City Administrator Logan Burns said. “This would be a turnkey operation for the design and construction as Athco provides all features for the splash pad.”

The company will likely start work this fall and the feature will be up and running by May 2024.

The contract includes all site prep and layout, under-drain , constructing the cast-in-place concrete slab and operation instructions.  

The proposed size of splash pad is a tad over 50x70 feet which includes a five-foot concrete apron around the perimeter and a total splash pad area of 2,484 square feet. The feature flow rate is 361 gallons per minute, and there is an included 3,000-gallon prefabricated storage tank to recycle the water. 

An equipment enclosure is also included in the immediate vicinity of the splash pad, he said. This would house all pump features and chemical enclosures. 

Utilities for water, sewer and electricity are in the immediate vicinity and will be hooked in conjunction with the project by other parties. 

The proposed blue, yellow and teal color palette (which match the city’s color scheme) can be changed to a custom color chosen by the city later on in the effort, Burns said. 

“There are plenty of options,” he said.

This bid does not include shade structures or benches, Burns said. But, “I have been in talks” with community groups that might want to be involved in this piece of the project.