OTHELLO — The underground plumbing has been installed and the concrete has been poured at the new splash pad in Othello’s Kiwanis Park. Construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 17 to rebuild and extend the walking paths through the park.  

Mayor Ken Johnson said members of Othello’s summer swim team are scheduled to attend the Aug. 10 Othello City Council meeting to discuss the status of the Othello Community Pool, which was closed due to extensive damage in April 2024.  

City Engineer Robin Adolphsen said there’s still work to be done on the splash pad, starting with installing the toys.  

“We do not have an opening date for the splash pad,” Adolphsen said.  

City officials are hoping to have it in operation by mid-August, she said; if that doesn’t work, the goal is to open it before the Othello School District starts the new school year. The first day of classes for OSD students is Aug. 27.  

Once it does open, it will stay in operation as long as weather permits, Adolphsen said. 

“We will run it until the days aren’t hitting 70 degrees,” she said, or overnight temperatures drop below freezing.  

Kiwanis Park has a walking trail that winds through about half the park. That will be expanded and upgraded, starting with removal of the existing asphalt. 

“We have a lot of root damage on that trail,” Adolphsen said.  

More trails will be added, with lighting added along the whole route. Total project cost is about $1.25 million, money the city received through a grant.  

The new splash pad is on the Scootney Street side of the park, next to the only parking lot. The layout includes water jets on the playground toys and the splash pad deck, as well as the “super-soaker,” a feature that holds water which it dumps periodically. The toys will be accessible to children and adults with limited mobility. 

The toys are designed with a railroad theme, both to recognize Othello’s origins as a railroad town and to tie in with the Iron Horse playground that opened in Lions Park in 2024. 

Johnson said council members intend to work on fixing the pool, which closed after city maintenance workers discovered a major leak, underground erosion and significant damage. 

Johnson said the issue is timing, since city officials are already working on a proposal for Othello to be annexed into Adams County Fire District 5, which will go before city voters in spring 2027. 

“We had to prioritize,” Johnson said. “Public safety – that was our number one priority, to make sure we get our fire district coverage.” 

Johnson said city officials didn’t want to ask voters to consider two major proposals in the same election.  

A community committee presented the council with options to repair the existing pool, replace it on its existing site, or replace and expand it, which might have required moving it. 

Council members opted to submit a $3.55 million bond proposal to city residents in November 2025. The bond would’ve fixed the existing pool, replacing the broken components and others that could be at risk of breaking, along with upgrading the pool’s mechanical and electrical systems. The proposal received about 55 percent approval but needed 60 percent to pass. 

Johnson said he met with swim team members Tuesday, and they asked about a pool bond proposal for the November ballot. However, the deadline to submit one has passed.  

City officials and council members also are looking at alternative funding sources for the pool. Resubmitting the bond is one option, but city officials also are considering others, including the possibility of reallocating tax money if the fire annexation proposal is approved.  

The existing contract with ACFD 5 is paid out of the city’s general fund; Othello pays the same rate as ACFD 5 district patrons outside the city limits, which is 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Othello residents would continue to pay the same rate if the annexation is approved, but that money would go directly to the fire district. Council members have been debating what that would mean for the city taxes now being collected for fire services.  

One option would be to reallocate some of that money to other programs. Councilmembers discussed saving some of it for the pool, which they tentatively rejected, but Johnson said it’s still an option. That will be among the issues discussed at Monday’s meeting, he said. 

    The Othello Community Pool is scheduled to be discussed Monday at the Othello City Council meeting.