City Still Considering Possible Water Park

Cookeville officials are working to bring a water park pool facility to the city.

Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton said that last week he, fellow council members, and other city officials toured several water park facilities across Middle Tennessee.

“We wanted to get some background information in what’s involved in that and what it would entail to try to do that here in Cookeville,” Shelton said. “I certainly am committed to trying to to make that happen. I shared that on my Facebook page and it reached over 200,000 people with 5,000 likes. Overwhelmingly people desire that.”

Shelton said if the project does come to fruition it would not require a land purchase. That’s because a master land use plan has identified a piece of land next to the Cane Creek Recreation Center that would be suitable for a water park facility.

He also said funding for such a park would come from a bond issuance or a local parks and recreation grant that is currently being utilized to build a skate park in town. Shelton said once the skate park gets complete the city could look at applying for more grant money to help offset the cost of the water park facility.

McMinnville’s Gilley Pool has 800 to 1,000 pool goers each day. Shelton said the pool’s director told him that a majority of those visitors come from Cookeville.

“If we can have those type of things here it will be a huge regional draw and a boost economically to our city,” Shelton said. “I look forward to exploring this further and see how we can move this project along.”