La Grande Parks and Recreation launches fundraiser for free, ADA-accessible splash pad

La Grande Parks & Recreation announced a community fundraising campaign on March 6, 2026 to replace the splash pad at Veterans’ Memorial Pool in Pioneer Park, 401 Palmer St., with a free, ADA-accessible water play area. The department’s press release said, “This project will create a modern, interactive water play area designed for children, families and visitors of all abilities,” and the campaign follows a September 2025 kickoff meeting that formed a volunteer committee to steer the project.

The volunteer committee carried the process through vendor selection. Parks & Rec engaged two firms to produce mockups, Waterplay and Ross Recreation Equipment, and allowed community members to vote on designs; Ross Recreation Equipment was selected as the final designer after that vote. The committee formation and design vote are part of the outreach that began at the September 2025 community meeting.

Pioneer Park was selected as the preferred site in those discussions because attendees cited park amenities and existing plumbing tied to Veterans’ Memorial Pool. Meeting notes show attendees discussed demolishing the current fenced-in splash pad at the pool and replacing it with a larger splash pad open to park guests. Early design conversations prioritized scale and accessibility over decorative features, and participants said the finished pad could range from a basic low-profile surface to a larger themed area with water games.

Technical details raised at public meetings include constructing the pad with epoxy and concrete materials similar to the pool deck and leveraging existing plumbing for water systems. Those trade and materials discussions informed the mockups presented by the vendors and factored into the community vote on the preferred concept.

The fundraising campaign, announced March 5–6, 2026 via the city’s Parks & Recreation NewsFlash, offers named giving tiers and one-time sponsorships. Donation tiers include community supporter at $1 to $2,000; splash supporter at $2,000 to $5,000; ripple effect donor at $5,000 to $10,000; and legacy wave donor at $10,000 to $50,000. Sponsors may underwrite specific permanent fixtures such as an interactive spray feature, a water play structure or a park bench; those sponsorships are described as one-time contributions covering the cost of a permanent park element.

The splash pad ranks high in local planning: La Grande’s parks comprehensive master plan adopted in 2022 listed a splash pad as the community’s second priority, behind the Riverside Park playground. Parks & Rec Director Stu Spence, quoted during prior playground outreach, said, “Our mission is to get as many people there as possible,” reflecting the department’s emphasis on community-driven projects and volunteer involvement.

City officials have not released a total project cost or a construction schedule. The volunteer committee that organized vendor selection will oversee the fundraising phase and next steps, and city staff say they will provide further details on design costs, timelines and donor recognition as the campaign progresses. If funding and design align, the project could replace the fenced-in pad at 401 Palmer St. with a larger, publicly open splash pad built to ADA standards.