A spray park and pedestrian walkways for Adams Township Community Park are specified in a $250,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Adams Township families will soon have somewhere new to keep cool over the summer, as the township received a $250,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to fund the construction of a new spray park at the Adams Township Community Park.

The DCNR grant specifies funding for “a spray park, pedestrian walkways and marking, plus a filtration and recirculation system, utilities, fencing, ADA access, landscaping, signage and other site improvements.”

“We had discussed a splash pad project in our park master plan update in 2019,” said Haley Zaliponi, Adams Township parks and recreation director. “We did a survey for that, and a community pool or splash pad was a top improvement for the park that came out of that survey. We decided to go with a splash pad as a more affordable recreational amenity to be installed instead of a community pool.”

Adams has already approved the purchase of the equipment for the splash pad, which should be arriving in April or May, Zaliponi said. A tentative construction start time of fall 2022 is scheduled, and the goal is to finish the project in time to be operational in the 2023 summer season.

The township worked with the design firm Recreation Resource, which specializes in splash pads and safety surfacing, to conceptualize the project.

Zaliponi said the design of the pad was based on nature and wildlife, and includes play elements like a discovery stream, animal ground sprays, flower waterfalls, cannons and a mega soaker.

The pad itself measures 108 feet, 4 inches by 61 feet and is arranged over three different zones — a discovery zone, a family zone and a high-action zone — with areas designed to appeal to young children, adults and seniors. Accessibility was a key concept in the pad's design.

“The whole overall design is all ADA, so it pretty much benefits people of all ages,” Zaliponi said. “It encourages development of gross motor movement, interactive play, and obviously safe water play. It's all a flat surface, so it's easily accessible from all directions.”

The pickleball fields and pavilions already in progress at the park are set to be finished in early summer and fall 2022.

The splash pad location is indicated by the red square near the basketball courts, and the pickleball court location by the orange square near the main parking lot of the municipal building and next to the T-ball fields.Submitted photo