Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.

As most of you know by now, I am part of the group of residents who have come together to raise money for a splash pad in Albert Lea. I wanted to take this opportunity to update the community on our project and plans for moving forward. This project is gaining momentum, and as each week passes, more and more people are getting involved and donating to the cause.

According to our most recent fundraising report, we have about $68,000 committed to the project out of an estimated project cost of $150,000. That’s almost half of the cost!

Money collected thus far has come in the form of donations from businesses, individuals, nonprofits and fundraisers. Our splash pad T-shirts, created by another committee member, have been a huge success, and we plan to sell them again at the upcoming Wind Down Wednesday.

 

What is a splash pad?

A splash pad is a recreational area in which a spray pool made out of jets and sprinklers is used to create a fun environment for people without the risk of drowning and need for lifeguards.

Children — or adults for that matter — will be able to push a button and water will spray out of the fountains. After a certain amount of time, the water will turn off automatically.

The Albert Lea splash pad is slated to be at the corner of Broadway and Fountain Street and will be surrounded by black metal fencing similar to the fencing on the North Broadway parking lot for safety purposes.

The splash pad is estimated to use between 2 million and 3 million gallons of water per year based off the usage at a similar splash pad in Clear Lake, Iowa.

That may sound like a lot of water, but in reality, that’s how much water the entire community uses in only a single day.

City staff have estimated this equates to less than $1 per year per household to pay for the operations of the splash pad.

To be responsible with our water usage, we have planned to include a holding tank underground that will store used water, and then the Albert Lea Parks and Recreation staff will draw from this water to water plants in the community.

This was an important part of the project for us as we wanted to be good stewards of the water.

As we move forward, look to continue to see additional fundraising by our committee for this project. The splash pad will likely be installed in the spring.

Anyone wishing to contribute can do so by mailing tax-deductible donations to the Chamber Foundation at the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, 1725 W. Main St., Albert Lea, MN 56007. Write “splash pad” in the memo line.

People who give $100 or more will be recognized.

For those of you who have already donated, thank you. We hope this project can be a great gift for our children and for the community as a whole.