Chillicothe Approves $4.1 M Project

The Chillicothe City Council took a giant leap towards making their new water park a reality on Monday night.  Click to hear KMZU’s Kristie Cross talk to City Administrator Ike Holland:

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According to Holland, the design plan had changed since it was presented to the council in prior weeks.  “We had several of the council members and the mayor approach me and say that they were supportive of the project, but the $2.5 million project was really only meeting it halfway,”said Holland,” We weren’t going to renovate the bath house, we didn’t have money for the parking lot, and we didn’t have other features.  They really weren’t interested in phasing those things in, so they asked me to contact the architects and engineers and redesign it with everything included.”

Council ultimately approved a $4.1 million project that will include an expanded parking lot, a renovated bath house, three slides, a climbing wall, and a lazy river, in addition to other features. Holland says demolition on the site will begin this fall and the new facility is expected to be open in time for 2013 summer season.

In other business, the council approved an amendment to the budget that will allow for the early pay-off of the bowling alley. The council also approved a new ordinance that will allow the city to set an alternative date for the use of fireworks if the July4th holiday is postponed due to weather or other circumstances. The original intention was to allow that activity on Labor Day this year; however, with the area still in a drought, that is not expected to take place. Also on the agenda for last night was a public hearing in regards to the tax levy. Due to information received from the county clerk concerning some inaccurate numbers, that hearing was postponed to August 27th.