© 2025 KPCW

KPCW
Spencer F. Eccles Broadcast Center
PO Box 1372 | 460 Swede Alley
Park City | UT | 84060
Office: (435) 649-9004 | Studio: (435) 655-8255

Music & Artist Inquiries: music@kpcw.org
News Tips & Press Releases: news@kpcw.org
Volunteer Opportunities
General Inquiries: info@kpcw.org
Listen Like a Local Park City & Heber City Summit & Wasatch counties, Utah
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Heber City funds splash pad to be built this summer

Water fountains are coming to a central spot in Heber City, where people can beat the heat as soon as this July.
Billy McDonald
/
Adobe Stock

Water fountains are coming to a central spot in Heber City, where people can beat the heat as soon as this July.

A splash pad is coming to Heber City Hall. City planners say it’s a place where families can enjoy themselves during hot summer months.

Negotiations for the project that started years back and stalled during planning phases concluded Tuesday night when the Heber City Council awarded $150,000 to build the water fountain ring.

It’ll go in the empty grass lot between City Hall and the County Administration Building on Main Street. The design is for a coated concrete circle 20 feet in diameter with a low wall around it for people to sit on.

Heber City Public Works utility maintenance operator Blake Walton presented the plan, which he said originated with the Heber City Community Alliance for Main Street and Heber City Leadership Academy.

“For it sounds like several years, there’s been lots of ideas kicked around about it,” he said. “But we’ve taken this time now and think we’ve condensed it. We have something that we think will be a fantastic addition for the city block.”

He said it could be complete and open to people who want to play in the water by July 1, but the timeline isn’t certain.

The design includes a compass engraved on the bottom of the splash pad.

Walton originally asked the council for just $100,000. The five council members unanimously approved $50,000 more with the condition planners contract engineers to tweak the look of the splash pad to better fit the historic Heber Tabernacle building that houses city offices next door.

The $150,000 will come from the RAP Tax revenue, a sales tax of one penny for every $10 spent that Wasatch County voters approved in 2022 to generate money for recreation, arts and parks projects.

They also said they wanted to ensure it drains water properly, because this time of year it’s common to see standing water there.

Walton said the plans include an enclosed pump and sanitizing station, which will recycle water. He said the splash pad will use about 15 to 40 gallons of new water per day.

After the $250,000 initial investment, he estimated it will cost about $85 to $270 monthly to operate.

The council also approved the design for a trail from 600 West to a new park with trails under construction near Red Ledges.

The plan is to build it along 300 South from 600 West to 300 East. It would head north one block to 200 South and continue east along 200 South to 500 East.

It’s part of a broader plan the city established when it published a general plan in 2021. Part of that plan is to connect to another paved trail the city wants to build, which would run along Center Street from 600 West all the way to Red Ledges Park.

Other goals are to work with Wasatch County to build regional trails. One goal the general plan calls the “Lake to Lake Trail” and says the highest priority is a trail that runs from Deer Creek Reservoir to Jordanelle Reservoir.

A link to view the meeting in full is available here.