“We’re looking at a mushroom (shaped dome) that fits in with the nature theme,” said Lisa Brown, township administrator.
The new addition features a 7-foot diameter dome that creates a continuous sheet of water flowing from its peak that falls around its entire perimeter.
The cost to remove the slide and the installation of the bubbler panel and dome is $27,633.
“West Chester has been working throughout the winter months to modify and upgrade the existing splash park, and we are now moving forward with replacing the existing tube slide with a water dome feature,’’ said Brianna Wooten, township spokeswoman.
Township officials said they expect the new feature to be ready sometime this spring. Brown said there was no exact opening date set yet, but it should be around the Memorial Day holiday.
“We are cutting it close. We got some assurances from the manufacturer,” Brown said.
The splash pad opened May 23 last year – about a year later than planned – after several delays, in part due to getting state permits.
Its first year of operation got off to a rocky start with several ongoing issues related to the mechanical operation of the pump systems.
Those issues plus calls about children being injured on the tube slide prompted closure of the tube slide feature in late June after adjustments were made to the slide.
Shortly thereafter, the whole park was closed briefly for maintenance and equipment testing. The park ended the 2025 season early in August – a couple of weeks ahead of the planned Labor Day weekend closing, due to ongoing operational issues related to the filtration and control systems.
“These calls continued even after we worked with the installer and the manufacturer to ensure the slide was operating in accordance with design specifications,’’ Wooten said.
“We decided that the best course of action was to replace that component so that we could reopen the splash park this season.”
A new controller and pump were installed when the splash park was being winterized. It still needs to be tested along with the dome to ensure they are working correctly before reopening the splash park.
Officials estimate that as many as 1,600 visitors used the splash park daily, based on cellphone pings.
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