L'burg Splash Park Opening Delayed Until 2020

Construction on a new splash park at Pat O'Neill Memorial Pool could not be completed in time for the 2019 pool season.

The proposed design of the new splash park at Lawrenceburg's Pat O'Neill Memorial Pool. Numbers represent (1) tuff coat non-skid surface, (2) life floor rubber tiles, (3) concrete, (4) beach entry, and (5) pool. Rendering by HWC Engineering.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Too much fun and not enough time to build it will keep a new splash park at Lawrenceburg’s Pat O’Neill Memorial Pool from opening up this year.

Lawrenceburg Common Council voted in August to spend $1.1 million on a new splash park. The city's hope was to see it open in June 2019.

But it now appears kids will have to go one more year using the current splash park at the public pool. City engineer Mike Clark told city council on January 10 that a June opening isn’t possible.

“We had problems with some of the bidders where we’re two months behind the eight ball in getting all the features and all the equipment, which was a surprise to me. A lot of the contractors who do this have already been awarded projects and are under contract so they can’t bid on it,” Clark said.

The Lawrenceburg Board of Public Works voted to reject the lone bid submitted for the splash park from Greendale-based Maxwell Construction. The company’s bid was for $1.426 million, according to HWC Engineering.

Mayor Kelly Mollaun lamented that the only bid was about 30 percent higher than the amount council previously approved.

“Projects from just two years ago to now have gone up extremely high. This type of construction has increased pretty much here in just recent history,” explained Clark.

Council also voted to allow Clark to rebid the project for a construction start date following the pool’s closure after Labor Day 2019. The new splash park could be open in time for Memorial Day weekend 2020.

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