La Grande launches fundraiser to restore Veterans’ Memorial Pool splash pad

La Grande is asking residents to help replace the aging splash pad at Veterans’ Memorial Pool with a free, ADA-accessible water play area at Pioneer Park, where the city says families, children and visitors could use it without paying pool admission. The campaign, posted March 6 and updated again May 13, has a $500,000 goal and had brought in $423,839 on one campaign page, with a separate spotlight page listing $426,339.

For many families, the project is about more than new spray features. The city says the current fenced-in pad at Veterans’ Memorial Pool is worn and the replacement would create a refreshed, interactive water play area that keeps Pioneer Park a place where children can cool off in summer without a ticket or membership. The new pad is planned for 401 Palmer Avenue, in a park the city describes as about 30 acres with the Veterans’ Memorial Swim Pool, an indoor pool with an attached outdoor splash park, a 15,000-square-foot skate park, a covered pavilion, a small playground, picnic tables, benches and grassy play areas.

City materials say the fundraising will support installation costs, water features and safety improvements, which puts the project in the category of a capital replacement rather than a simple cosmetic fix. A local report said the new pad would replace the existing fenced-in splash pad and use the current plumbing infrastructure already in place at the pool site, a practical detail that could keep the project rooted where generations of La Grande families already gather.

The effort has been moving through public input and funding milestones since its first meeting on Sept. 25, 2025, when the Parks and Recreation department held a public session at Veterans’ Memorial Pool and recruited volunteers for the committee. By Jan. 15, 2026, residents had been asked to review two design concepts. City records from the March 12 Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting said the committee was working toward a May 31, 2026 match deadline, had asked for $30,000 from the city’s general fund and $75,000 in TRT dollars, and had already received $6,000 in donations. Expected support from Soroptimist International of La Grande and the Wildhorse Foundation would leave about $25,000 still to raise locally.

The splash pad also fits into a larger public recreation system at Pioneer Park, where the aquatics program already offers recreation swim, exercise swim, water-exercise classes, family-night pricing and swim lessons. La Grande’s recent Riverside playground rebuild showed how blended public and private support can turn visible park projects into lasting community assets, and the splash pad campaign now places the same bet on summer access, neighborhood health and a park that serves more households in Union County.