Romkey Park reopening adds pool, splash pad and pickleball courts

Romkey Park’s pickleball courts are set to come online as part of a June 4 reopening, with the pool opening first and the rest of the park following in the weeks after. For Moorhead players, that means another public place to drop in without membership fees, and it arrives inside a much larger summer recreation buildout.

The city’s Reimagine Romkey Park, officially titled the Pool Replacement and Park Renewal project, turns the site into more than a court stop. The plan includes a 25-meter pool with a diving well and slides, a zero-depth entry wading pool, a splash pad placed outside the pool fence and free to use, a recreation center and pool building, a skate park, a playground, soccer field, basketball courts, a natural playground, a food forest and a sledding hill. Pickleball is one piece of that mix, but it is being installed as part of a park that is meant to pull in families all day, not just players at one specific hour.

That scale reflects how much the site has mattered to Moorhead for decades. Romkey Park opened in 1956, the Moorhead Municipal Pool followed in 1958 after more land was deeded to the city, and officials said the replacement pool had lasted far beyond the typical 25-to-40-year lifespan for a facility in this climate. At the project kickoff in August 2024, leaders put the renovation at $11.3 million, backed by a $5 million federal Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant, a required $5 million local match and another $1.3 million approved so the splash pad could be added.

The city said the final design grew out of extensive public input. More than 4,000 announcements were mailed, an open house was held on Nov. 7, 2022, and survey feedback helped shape the plan. The city said 28% of respondents lived in the neighborhood, and pickleball was among the amenities residents supported enough to make the cut.

Shelly Carlson has said the pool hosts more than 400 swimming lessons each year and about 250 swimmers a day, a reminder of how deeply used the old site had become. Amy Klobuchar said the investment could help an entire neighborhood feel better about where they live. With the pool opening June 4 and the rest of the park to follow, Romkey Park is about to become one of Moorhead’s most complete public recreation spaces, and pickleball will be part of that everyday traffic from the start.