Local government

Plans move ahead for new splash pad at Nyssa’s Lions Park

NYSSA – The city of Nyssa expects to soon award a bid to build at new splash pad at Lions Park, said Jim Maret, city manager.

Maret said work to build the splash pad, basketball court and a pavilion at the park at Park Avenue and North 8th Street should be finished this year.

“It is a very, very big project for the city,” said Maret.

The only other splash pad in the area is in Ontario.

The city will use more than $700,000 from a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department plus $180,000 from its own coffers to fund the $900,000 project.

Maret said the bids will be selected by the city Wednesday, June 12.

Maret said the Lions Park project is the culmination of years of work and ambitions by city officials.

“The council and everyone worked hard to get where we are at,” he said.

Maret said from the moment he stepped into the city manager job in 2017 he sought to redo Nyssa’s parks.

“I wanted to give the public something other than a water bill, something they can actually use,” he said.

Maret said the Lions Park project is just one of several already planned by the city.

“We are in for a grant right now to put another half million dollars into South Park,” he said.

That grant, he said, would add a walking path, pickle ball courts and a gazebo.

“My ultimate goal is to figure out how to tie all the parks together with a designated walking path,” he said.

Donations of time and money also helped to improve Joe Johnson Park in Nyssa. The park, named after a Nyssa Police Department reserve officer who was shot and killed in 2023, now contains a baseball diamond and newer playground equipment.

Maret said the city has aggressively sought grants to help fund civic projects and remained within its budget.

“Two-thirds of the cities in Oregon met their budgets by cutting services. Where Nyssa, we are one of the one-third that doesn’t have to do that. We met our budget,” he said.

News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]

Previous coverage:

Big changes on the way for Nyssa’s Lions Park

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