El Paso City Council Is Considering Installing Splash Pads Around Town Instead of Traditional Pools

We might not have gotten a Six Flags instead of a ballpark, but El Paso City Council might be bringing a bunch of waterparks to neighborhoods across town. City reps heard from El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez yesterday that El Pasoans could get a bigger bank for their buck if splash pads and aquatic facilities were built instead of traditional rectangular pools.

El Paso has 17 traditional recreation centers with pools, but the number of people using them is dropping, and they are expensive to maintain. A splash pad could run up to a million dollars to build, but because it needs little to no staff, recycles water, and can be turned off during non-operational hours, it is much cheaper to maintain in the long run. Another thing being looked at is aquatics facilities that could have attractions like rock climbing, lazy rivers, and bigger slides.

City reps will be discussing the possibility of splash pads and aquatic facilities in the coming weeks.