Fulton approves final splash pad design, Seventh Street Bridge bid

A mock-up of the new splash pad design for Memorial Park.
A mock-up of the new splash pad design for Memorial Park.

After logistics forced the city of Fulton to change its plans in implementing a splash pad at Memorial Park, the city council approved a final plan for its design.

The city approved a bid from Kansas City-based Fry & Associates to build a design that will implement about 30 different spray features. The project will include shade areas, park benches and drinking fountains - and will come in just under the city's $250,000 budget for the project.

Parks and Recreation Director Clay Caswell said the project would take about two months to complete.

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Councilman Mike West was the lone dissenter in approving the bid, stating he did not approve of the price tag - that project also came in over budget at $647,776.76 because of time constraints to complete the bridge between May and August while the majority of Westminster College students were away for summer break.

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West said it was "unfortunate that it came in so over budget," but Mayor LeRoy Benton said that despite concerns over the price, now was the time to repair the bridge.

"A lot of comments from the builders were that it was the short time frame, so even if we put it off, we'll always have a short time frame," Benton said. "If we put it off again, we're just going to occur additional expense. My recommendation to you is to go ahead and get this done."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.