FREDERICKTOWN – When the Fredericktown Police Department recently closed the parking lot at the corner of West College and North Main streets, it ushered in a project with roots dating back several years.
Known as the Community Plaza and Splash Park, the project will bring a summer-friendly venue to downtown Fredericktown, with the cost largely borne by private donors through the Knox County Foundation (KCF).
Green Valley Design is the project’s architect, whereas Shrock Construction is acting as general contractor. Patterson Pools is also assisting.
A splash pad — or sprayground, as they’re also known — allows children to cool off by playing in water streams with no standing water. The project will also offer a seating area and heated restroom; said Jeffrey Scott, executive director of the Knox County Foundation.
“Our intent is that this would be a community amenity, much like you would see in other small towns around us,” Scott told the Mount Vernon News. “Hopefully, folks will come up there on a hot summer day and let their kids cool off and maybe do some shopping or eat a meal.”
Talk of building the splash pad began last summer, and donors quickly backed the idea as a potential economic driver.
“We believe it’s the kind of amenity that realtors who are showcasing homes in the area will show prospective buyers as the kind of community that they’re moving into,” Scott said.
Businesses noticing the project could also consider it as an incentive to move or expand in the area, he added.
Scott said the private donations supplemented a fund established some years ago toward a community center project that never came to fruition. The funds were held by KCF.
“Late last year, we worked through the steps through the organizations that had solicited those funds to go through the process of allocating some of them toward this project,” Scott said.
Although the parking lot had to close to allow work on the splash pad, the lot will reopen once the project wraps up and the lot has been resurfaced. A Facebook post from the Fredericktown Police Department advised that in the meantime commuters can find alternative parking on East Sandusky, West First and East First streets.
“Our hope is that once the project’s done, they’ll find both the new parking lot and the amenity of the splash pad to have been well worth the wait,” Scott said.
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