An image of the Ansonia Splash Pad from the City of Ansonia Facebook page.
ANSONIA — The City of Ansonia’s new splash pad at Nolan Field is scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 24.
Officials from Mayor David Cassetti’s administration, the Ansonia Fire Department, and “Orange For Ansonia,” a community group, are scheduled to attend opening day.
The splash pad, although common in cities around the country, is the first municipal splash pad to open in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
It has a fire department theme, meant to honor the rich tradition of volunteer firefighting in Ansonia.
Nolan Field is on Wakelee Avenue, at the intersection with Franklin Street.
The Cassetti administration told The Valley Indy last month the splash pad project totaled $312,000.
It was supposed to open in September 2022. However, the Cassetti administration said they had trouble finding contractors to do the work. The site prep was completed last year, and the city has the equipment to install.
The splash pad cost estimates from the administration have changed over the last year or so.
In November 2021, Cassetti estimated the splash pad would cost between $100,000 and $125,000. At the time, the mayor said the city was putting aside $300,000 in American Rescue Plan money to pay for the splash pad, along with renovations to nearby basketball courts, tennis courts, and a playground.
Last month Ansonia Chief Financial Officer Kurt Miller said the splash pad, plus the playground improvements, would cost about $480,000 – with the playground improvements comprising about 35 percent of the $480,000.
That math translates to a splash pad cost of roughly $312,000. There’s about $168,000 left for the playground improvements.
The improvements to the basketball and tennis courts have been dropped from the project, but could move forward in the future, Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director, said last month.
The money is public money – but it’s not directly from the Ansonia city budget. The city still intends to use federal aid released during the COVID-19 pandemic to pay for the project, which is allowed, administration officials said.
The roughly 33 feet long and 43 feet wide splash pad has a firefighter theme, with decals representing each of Ansonia’s five fire companies – Charters Hose Co., Eagle Hose Co., Fountain Hose Co., Hilltop Hose Co. and Webster Hose Co. It has various fire hydrants, archways, dump buckets and other features shooting water out for kids to run through.
