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New park feature makes a splash!
By Ed Runyan
McDONALD
It was a perfect day to open the new McDonald splash pad to the public – a really hot morning amid a summer of really hot days.
Mayor Glenn Holmes and other adults spoke about the great job the village’s employees did in constructing the play area in Woodland Park from vendor Vortex Midlwest Aquatic Play Solutions, then kids gathered while the ribbon was cut.
After a countdown, one boy had the honor of pushing a button to turn it on.
Splashing commenced.
The water was a little warm at first, but it soon cooled off, said Carson Klase, 9, who said the best of the 14 splashing locations is one that fills up a bucket with water, then dumps it, providing a good dousing.
It’s fun, he and his buddies – Kyle Puckett, 8, and Tobias Domitrovich, 9 – agreed.
Robin DeBow, McDonald fiscal officer, put more of a historical perspective on it, saying the people of McDonald are proud to be able to offer this water-related fun for kids – the first of its kind since the village had to close its wading pool four years ago.
“It was such a sad day when we closed the wading pool,” she said. “I remember it from when I was a little girl. You can see the kids just love it,” DeBow, a lifelong McDonald resident, said of the new splash pad.
“The fact that we did it with just staff saved us a lot of money,” she said.
Holmes described the $100,000 project as “budget neutral” because the village didn’t have to borrow any money for it. The village saved up money for a couple of years, said village Administrator Thomas Domitrovich.
The splash pad has 14 devices that spray or drop or spin water in a 40-foot-by-40-foot area on a 60-foot-by-60-foot pad.
Holmes said the splash pad is open to the public and has no admission charge.
It joins Cortland as Trumbull County communities that added a splash pad this year.