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Thornton unveils draft plan for 6.5‑acre McAllister Park with splash pad and public art
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Summary
Parks staff presented a draft master plan for McAllister Park (about 6.5 acres) that retains existing facilities, adds a half‑sized splash pad, expanded playground, accessible loops and a public‑art site; staff estimates $3.9–$4.6 million and expects to seek grants to cover about 40–50% of costs.
Parks staff on Tuesday presented a draft master plan for McAllister Park, a roughly 6.5‑acre site west of I‑25, recommending a mix of recreation, nature and event spaces intended to serve nearby high‑priority neighborhoods.
Kendrick Wyman, project manager, summarized the plan: keep the existing baseball field, half basketball court and small playground; add an expanded playground with nature‑play elements, a splash pad about half the size of the city’s Carpenter Park installation, multiple accessible concrete walking loops, soft‑surface nature trails and a 92‑space parking lot to protect nearby streets. The plan reserves a prominent location near Huron Street for public art and suggests limited bluegrass with water‑wise plantings across the site.
Staff provided a conservative cost estimate of $3.9–$4.6 million (including a 20% contingency). "Parks department feels like this project is really well oriented to go after grants for, and we feel pretty optimistic that we could offset total cost to the tune of about 40 to 50% for these costs," Wyman said. Staff identified three primary grant targets: Adams County open space partnerships, GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado) and DOLA (Department of Local Affairs).
The design foregoes a plumbed restroom because that raises upfront and maintenance costs; staff recommended a temporary porta‑toilet in the near term and noted vault restrooms or a shared restroom with a renovated adjacent building would be options. Staff also discussed water‑reuse and recirculation options for the splash pad, highlighting a tradeoff: recirculating systems reduce water use but can add $750,000–$1,000,000 in upfront cost for a facility of this scale.
Councilors asked about maintenance costs, grant dependencies and options to phase construction. Staff said the expected increase in maintenance workload is "negligible" and likely manageable with existing resources, and that grants targeted are flexible and not tied to specific design elements. Several council members urged ensuring a restroom solution and exploring electric vehicle charging or food‑truck hookups during future design work.
Next steps: staff will take council feedback, refine the master plan and pursue grant opportunities during the remainder of the year; construction timing will depend on securing funding and inclusion in the capital improvement program.
