Splashdown
Roger A. Houck Water Park now open
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Making a splash: Nathan and Collin Jackson and Porter Hundley enjoy opening day at the new pool at Jaycee Park in Clinton. - Tony Cox
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Clinton City Manager Roger Houck, left, and Mayor Scott Burton welcome the first guests to the city’s new Jaycee Park swimming pool and splash pad as it opens at 11 a.m. Friday, July 18. The guests in front are, from left, Isaiah Robinson, 5; Pam Robinson; and Hayden Milsaps, 11. - Tony Cox
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Sabrina, Luci, Alice, Charlie and Al Madrigal enjoy the new pool at Jaycee Park. - Tony Cox
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Clinton City Manager Roger Houck talks about the new splash pad at the city’s Jaycee Park pool complex on Friday morning as it opens for the first time. - Tony Cox
After several years of planning and more than a year of construction, the new $1.9 million swimming pool and associated splash pad and pool building at Jaycee Park in Clinton were opened to the public at 11 a.m. Friday, July 18.
Clinton Mayor Scott Burton and City Manager Roger Houck were on hand to welcome the first guests through the gates of what the City Council has named the Roger A. Houck Water Park.
“This has been a long time coming,” Burton said as he and Houck waited to open the gates when the clock hit 11 a.m.
Among a small group in line outside the pool complex for it to open was Joann Crotty of Clinton, with grandkids Hayden Milsaps, 11, and Huntley Milsaps, 12. They arrived at 10:30 a.m., and were surprised there was not a long line of people already there.
They were accompanied by Pam Robinson and Isaiah Robinson, 5.
“I’m excited,” Pam Robinson said.
Crotty praised the new complex, and said she was glad to be among the first to experience it.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “If they don’t have fun, it’s their fault.”
The previous pool, which was larger and in an L-shape, was never reopened after the 2019 swim season because of COVID in 2020, and major leaks in the old pool that were causing the city to lose up to 10,000 of gallons of water daily.
Now the pool is in a basic rectangular shape, and the area where the bottom of the L-shape was before has now been made into the splash pad.
There also is a new pool building and a concession stand in a corner of that building offering hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and other food – at prices Houck said are “lower than you’ll find at fast-food places around town.”
For this season, there is no admission charge for the pool and splash pad. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. until schools reopen Aug. 4. Then the pool’s hours will be 5 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the season.
