On mornings that it hasn’t rained, three members of the Ellsworth Kiwanis Club can often be found at the new spray pad in Preisker Park, using a nozzle and hose they borrowed from the Ellsworth Volunteer Fire Department to water the grass around the pad.

Terry Kepka, Gary Urbanek and Roger Pearson are among the many volunteers who can take credit for the new water feature, which already is attracting its share of attention.

“Hopefully, it gets used a lot,” Kepka said.

He probably shouldn’t worry.

Dozens of onlookers — many of them children in swim suits — attended the pad’s grand opening Friday.

“Not yet. Not yet,” a grandmother warned before Pastor Luke Brown, president of Kiwanis, welcomed the crowd and thanked the community for its support.

“Over $180,000 was raised. This is a significant success story,” Pastor Brown said.

The story started more than two years ago. Terry’s wife, Agnes, went to city administrator Scott Moore about making improvements to Preisker Park. Later, the couple took their grandchildren to Wilson’s spray park and were greatly impressed. Terry went to Kiwanis director Ron Svaty and the idea for the local splash pad grew from there.

Splash pad items were selected by students at Ellsworth Elementary and Kanopolis Middle schools. They were given photographs of the possible choices before casting ballots that went into gallon jars provided by the Kiwanis.

At the same time, the city took on the responsibility of building new rest rooms.

Much of the cost for the entire project, Kepka said, was absorbed by local and area foundations.

At Friday’s opening, the club turned over responsibility for the splash pad to the city. Work continued over the weekend to work out the bugs in the new pad.

Ellsworth city administrator Scott Moore said the pad was closed Saturday because of electrical issues. Some potential users went to Wilson to use the splash pad there, he added.

At Monday night’s council meeting, council president Mark Kennedy questioned payments to the electrician and to the company that painted the pad. The grey paint is already chipped because it was applied while the surface was still wet, council members said. Council member Steve Magette said he would suggest Kiwanis withholds payment until the paint is repaired.

Terry Kepka said the project encountered other obstacles, including the death of the owner of the first company the Kiwanis Club hired to build the pad. As a result, another vendor had to be found.

The Kiwanis Club is not entirely out of the project. Members have committed $2,500 a year for capital outlay projects.

Still to be done, Kepka said, are the construction of two shelterhouses and the installation of a bronze plaque with the names of donors. There also needs to be a sign with pad rules. At the top of the list — No Running!

Despite the snags, Kepka said the splash pad is a good example of what can happen when a community recognizes the benefits of a project and supports it.

That was one of his thoughts Friday as he became the splash pad’s first user. His blue t-shirt, emblazoned with “Splash pad forever” across the front, was soaked by the time he stepped away from the pad — only to be replaced by dozens of children.

“I was glad to see our dream come true,” Kepka said.