Grandview Plaza plans to build Splash Park

During the hot days of summer, children in Grandview Plaza may be cooling off and enjoying themselves in a brand new splash park.

Last month, the city council moved closer to creating the splash park by submitting a grant application to the Bramlage Family Foundation.

Shelley Carver is a grant administrator for the Flint Hills Regional Council. She’s helping Grandview Plaza find public and private funding to help pay for the new park.

Carver told the council the Bramlage Family Foundation is interested in helping create the project. However, the foundation wants to know Grandview Plaza is willing to adequately fund the park’s construction.

“They want to see there aren’t the only funder in the room — that the city has a significant stake in the project,” she said.

Carver asked the council to approve an application to submit to the private charity showing the city plans to spend $252,000 for the park. The remaining $200,000 of the $452,000 project would come from grants provided by the Bramlage Family Foundation and others.

Council member Marvin Edison worried about the potential consequences of the council spending that much money to build the park.

“I don’t feel comfortable right now with all the problems we have with infrastructure, too many foregoing problems that could cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “We should be putting money away in case of emergencies.”

Other council members didn’t share Edison’s concerns. The grant application was approved 4 to 1.