MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council accepted a $168,000 grant more than a year ago from the Richland County Foundation to install new splash pads at two city parks on the north side.
Neither of those pads were operating on Wednesday as temperatures again reached 90 degrees in north central Ohio. One of them has never opened.
One of the pads, built at Johns Park, opened June 13, but has since been shut down due to water line issues. The second is still under construction at North Lake Park with more concrete expected to be poured on Thursday.
“I am disappointed,” Mayor Tim Theaker said. “We are trying as hard as we can as fast as we can to get issues corrected and get these splash pads up and running.
“All I know is I am a little frustrated. It’s 90 degrees outside … we are working as fast as we can to get it going,” the mayor said.
Theaker lamented voter rejection of a four-year, quarter-percent income tax issue on the May 3 ballot that would have generated about $3.7 million annually for the parks department.
The four-year tax, opposed by 55 percent of voters, would have generated about $3.7 million annually (about $15 million over four years)
Funds from that tax would have paid to build a new $8 million municipal aquatics center at Liberty Park. Mansfield’s only aging public pool, located at Liberty Park, has been closed since 2021 and will not re-open due to costly maintenance issues.
Even if that levy had passed, a new pool was not expected to open until 2024.
“That’s why we need an aquatics center. But the citizens voted that down,” Theaker said. “We are doing the best we can, but there wouldn’t be anything in the works if not for these splash pads.”
Mark Abrams, the city’s parks & rec superintendent, said the splash pad at Johns Park had to be shut down Monday after a water line was blown.
He said the splash pads operate at about 30 pounds per square inch and the pressure from the city water line was flowing in about 65 psi.
“We blew the regulator and we had to order a new one,” Abrams said Wednesday afternoon. “We would have had the same situation at North Lake Park, so we ordered one for that pad, also.”
Abrams said additional concrete will be poured at the North Lake Park pad on Thursday. He said he hopes both splash pads will “hopefully be up and running next week.”
“There have a multitude of issues,” he said of problems trying to get the sites opened.
Cheryl Meier, who represents the 2nd Ward on City Council and chairs the parks committee, said the delays in opening of the pads are “extremely unfortunate.”
“I am disappointed it has taken so long,” she said. “I don’t think its the parks department. The water department has had a lot of water main breaks that they are working to fix and have tried to get to these at the same time.
“It’s just an unfortunate set of circumstances that has led to us to where we are,” she said. “I hope both are up and running next week.”
Fourth Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport, whose ward includes both parks, said he counted 55 children using the Johns Park splash pad last week.
“It’s not just north-end kids. It’s people from all over the city,” he said, admitting the process has been “very frustrating.”
“People have started to know the (pad at Johns Park) is there. They are still coming to the park expecting to get relief from this heat and we are not able to provide it.
“These splash pads fit a need and I think they will be a tremendous success,” Davenport said. “We thank the Richland County Foundation for the funds. We as a city just have to get them operational.”
“We are trying to be patient, but it is very frustrating. We started this process in May of last year and here it’s almost July of this year and we are not where we should be,” Davenport said.
The indoor pool at Malabar Intermediate School at 205 W. Cook Road was opened to the public for free on June 18 and will be open again Saturday, June 25.
Mark Abrams, the city’s parks and recreation department superintendent, said “only about four families” came on June 18, though the high temperature was only in the high 60s.
The temperature this Saturday is expected to again be near 90.
The Malabar pool will be open Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. using lifeguards from the YMCA of North Central Ohio-Mansfield.
Admission is free.
