CONRAD — The town of Conrad is building a splash park, which is, as resident Damon describes it: “It offers big, giant pipes that spew water out on your head and a bunch of other stuff.”
It started with an idea by Michelle Fowler.
“Initially, I kind of got the idea in my head and kind of brought it to other members in the community that kind of had the same idea,” said Michelle Fowler, Vice President of the Splash Park Committee. “We all wanted to bring something to our community that our kids could benefit from and get our community active.”
Now, there is a 3,000-square foot hole in the Conrad City Park. it may not look like much now, but if you know the five-year history that goes along with it, it has an exciting future.
A splash park is a more accessible way to allow aquatic fun, and the benefits to having one are numerous.
“The attraction here is, it doesn't have to be supervised,” explained Conrad Mayor David Cates, “Little kids can come here. They're just barely crawling, and they can splash around in the water. They can't do that in the pool.”
“It's great, especially being a nurse,” Fowler said, “I'm happy to have something that’s, you know, safe and gets the kids and parents, grandparents, anybody can use it.”
Since the idea’s inception in 2019, the community has worked together to make it a reality.
“The city showed interest in the project right from the start,” said Agnes Fowler, the Secretary Treasurer for the Splash Park Committee.
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“To me, this is an example of what happens when the community comes together,” Mayor Cates said.
The project is being completed by local contractors, so the money invested stays local. The total cost is over half a million dollars, but Town Pump has agreed to match thousands of dollars in donations, and the city has already raised most of the money publicly and through grants. Now they’re on their final push of fundraising.
“The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has a commitment to give back to our Montana Communities,” Town Pump Spokesperson Bill McGladdery said in a statement to MTN News, “We understand the challenges that many of our rural communities experience in funding projects similar to the splash park and we want to help them achieve their goals.”
“For so long people were, ‘Oh, is it ever going to happen?’” Agnes Fowler said, “And you get stopped on the street as you do in a small community. And now we can say, ‘Hey, it's really happening,’”
The park will be another reason to have people come to the city of Conrad.
“That should draw more people into the city for the same reasons that we would drive to Great Falls or go to Shelby,” Mayor Cates said.
“They made another one in Great Falls that is a very far away from here,” Damon said, “So I'm glad to have one of our own ones that we can play in without driving the long distance.”
The park will be open more than the pool, open longer in the year than the pool, and requires no lifeguards to staff it. But to the kids of Conrad, they are just excited for something new.
The town is still raising money until October 31st. You can send donations to the Pondera Coalition for Progress at 409 S Main Street, Conrad, MT 59425, and include in the check’s memo “Splash Park”, or you can come in person to the Coalition For Progress and donate cash.
