Funds to pay for splash pad in Waupaca
By Angie Landsverk
The city of Waupaca is seeking up to $700,000 in grant funds to develop a splash pad at Swan Park.
The common council unanimously supported the idea of applying to the state Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant program when it met earlier this month.
All council members were present for the virtual meeting.
The state program provides funds to develop high quality outdoor recreation facilities.
Parks and Recreation Director Andrew Whitman said a splash pad is a safe water activity and more accessible.
“It came up in some surveys and the CORP (Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan) we just finished as well,” he said.
Adding a splash pad at Swan Park is part of a larger project that includes replacing the park’s playground and adding a small restroom near it.
The city’s Capital Improvements Plan includes a $1.4 million budget for the overall project.
The city is borrowing for half the cost, and Friends of Waupaca Parks is raising funds for the other half.
“The Friends group will be reaching out to area businesses and donors,” Whitman said.
Letters are being sent to them as part of the first steps in the fundraising process.
It was Greg Grohman who learned the city is able to seek a LWCF grant for the splash pad project.
He was hired last year to be the grant writer for the city, Waupaca School District and Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I had a conversation with Greg about the project when he first came on board,” Whitman said.
Whitman said Grohman started looking for grant possibilities and found the city would be able to use such funds for what it wants to accomplish at Swan Park.
The grant is due on May 1, and Whitman expects to learn next fall if the city is receiving any funds.
If the city is successful in obtaining the grant, the funds would be part of what the Friends group is trying to fundraise for the splash pad, he said.
The group plans to fundraise through this summer.
Whitman said if the group raises $500,000 and the city receives a $300,000 grant, the other $100,000 would go against what the city would borrow.
If the city gets the grant, a request for proposal will go out next fall, with a goal of beginning the project in the spring of 2022, he said.
The playground at Swan Park is the original one and is 20-plus years old, Whitman said.
“We have had some minor issues with things breaking,’ he said.
In some cases, the city had to take some parts off the playground due to not being able to replace them, Whitman said.
“It’s getting up there in age,” he said.
Whitman said the big driver for the project is to have a playground that is accessible to everyone.
The plan includes a rubber surface for the playground.
While that type of surface has a higher cost upfront, its annual maintenance cost is lower, he said.
“We’re really going to go for full accessibility for everyone,” Whitman said.