After being allotted $18 million for improvements, the City of Wichita’s Parks and Recreation Department has outlined a 7-year plan for its aquatics facilities.
The city currently owns ten aquatics parks, including a swimming pool at Edgemoor Park that has been closed due to maintenance issues since 2012.
In a plan that was presented to Wichita City Council members on Tuesday, the Edgemoor swimming pool would receive a significant remodeling, with an opening date in 2020.
The plan would also replace four swimming pools—McAdams, Orchard, Boston and Linwood—with water playgrounds.
Wichita Aquatics Manager Brian Hill says the splash pads combine large fountains and jungle gyms, and will save the city money.
“[Water playgrounds] reduce our cost of water, it reduces our chemical costs, and the big one, obviously, you don’t have to staff them with lifeguards,†Hill says.
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