Harwich commission moves to scale back splash pad plan
Other Committee · Meeting of September 8, 2026
Harwich Recreation and Youth Commission balks at a $734,000 splash pad estimate. At a September 8 special meeting, landscape architect Eric walked the board through a full-build concept for a roughly 2,500-square-foot splash pad, pricing eleven water features, site work and "soft costs" like design, permitting and shipping at a combined $734,000, including a 15 percent contingency. Commission member Dave Nixon called that figure "totally out of anything I would even consider supporting personally," and members converged around a working target near $500,000.
Going feature by feature, the board cut roughly $85,000 in equipment costs, dropping a log flume, a duplicate animal-shaped spray feature, a jet barrel and a ship's mast, while keeping a favorite roughly $40,000 slide. Recreation Director Neil called the full-featured starting point "the right place to start." The commission reconvenes September 22 with revised numbers ahead of a Community Preservation Committee funding deadline.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,801 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of September 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Keep reading with a 30-day free trial
Subscribe to Barnstable County News to keep reading this post and get 30 days of free access to the full post archives.
Starting a trial requires a payment method. After 30 free days your subscription begins at the price shown at checkout and renews automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime from your account. Subscription terms
A subscription gets you:
- Subscriber-only posts and full archive
- Post comments and join the community
- 24x7 access to local news