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Hudson opens $400,000 motion-activated splash pad at White Camp Park funded with ARPA dollars
Summary
Hudson’s public works director says the city opened a motion-activated splash pad at White Camp Park this season. The $400,000 project was paid largely with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, is free to the public, and runs daily 11 a.m.–7 p.m. through Labor Day.
Hudson’s newest park amenity — a motion-activated splash pad at White Camp Park — opened this season after a $400,000 project largely funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, Public Works Director Mike Maraz said on Western Wisconsin Journal.
“Several years ago it was already identified in the outdoor recreation plan to have a splash pad somewhere,” Maraz said, and the city used ARPA funding made available after the COVID pandemic to make the project “become a reality.”
Maraz said the splash pad cost the city $400,000 and involved substantial concrete and plumbing work. The feature is motion-activated: “There’s a sensor on the side… a kid can come over here and wave their hand over it, and it turns the splash pad in,” he said, and the system runs for roughly three to four minutes before shutting off and requiring reactivation.
The splash pad is free to the public and, Maraz said, currently operates from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The city is running it for its first season from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Maraz emphasized the project used federal ARPA dollars rather than local taxpayer funds.
Maraz framed the splash pad as part of a broader parks strategy: Hudson’s core regional parks include White Camp, Lakefront, Prospect and Grandview, with several neighborhood parks such as Atwood, Webster and Anderson serving day-to-day recreational needs. “A lot of visitors come to our parks…thousands and thousands of visitors every year,” he said, noting the importance of maintaining shelters and bathrooms.
The segment ended with an invitation to families to visit the new amenity to cool off this summer. No formal vote or city-council action was reported in the interview segment.
