Dixon splash pads, playgrounds reopening Friday

DIXON – The Dixon Park District will be celebrating the Phase 4 reopening with a splash.

Both the Water Wonderland and Vaile Park splash pads will open at 9 a.m. Friday, as well as all playgrounds.

"We're so excited to get back in the swing of things," Executive Director Duane Long said. "We're finally getting back to the park district norm."

Parkgoers will be welcomed with several improvements that the district has worked on during the last few weeks, including about $6,000 in new tables and umbrellas at the Vaile Park splash pad and a renovated Wooden Wonderland.

Wooden Wonderland received about $10,000 in new woodchips and got a new paint job.

"It's just like a new playground, and we built it 24 years ago," Long said.

Water Wonderland, which opened a year ago, has refreshed landscaping and a completed pavilion with picnic tables and restrooms, which also will be open.

The Dixon Rotary Club made a $20,000 donation for the pavilion, and Dixon businesses MO-ST Plumbing, Kniggie Mason Contractors, DNR Electric, MDS Construction, and S&D Construction volunteered labor.

A staff member will be at Water Wonderland to monitor the number of people using the splash pad to make sure it stays at fewer than 50 people at a time. The splash pads will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The district also added a large sun shade at the Park 4 Paws dog park.

“We here at the Dixon Park District are so excited to be able to open our splash pads and playgrounds for the people of this great community," Long said.

The Water Wonderland splash park project was a year in the making and totaled around $550,000. It kicked off after longtime residents Tom and Kathi Sherman pledged $200,000 for a splash pad after hearing of renewed interest with the city and Park District collaborating on such an effort.

The Park District and city both committed $100,000 and raised $140,000 in community donations; local businesses and volunteers donated labor.

The 70-by-70-foot splash pad is in Meadows Park and has 23 water features, and two zones geared toward children 2 to 5 and 5 to 12.