The town of Thorsby has cancelled a public hearing originally scheduled for Thursday night to discuss a Land/Water grant for a splash pad facility in Richard Wood Park.

“The engineer has looked, and the potential cost will be outside what the town could afford and would be next to impossible to get in by the deadline of September 1,” Thorsby Mayor Dearl Hilyer said.

A splash pad is a recreational facility with sprinklers and spray heads that are activated by touch, constructed over a non-skid surface that does not retain water. Many municipalities consider them to be less expensive and lower maintenance than public swimming pools.

Hilyer welcomes citizens to look up the splash pad on the city of Gardendale’s website (www.cityofgardendale.com/parkrec_splashpad.php). He said Thorsby’s would have been smaller, but he had heard the response to facilities in Gardendale and Ragland had been positive.

“I am told they (Gardendale) have brought in $40,000 in rental fees just off the park in one summer. They spent $200,000 on having it built, though,” Hilyer said. “We will continue to look at all grant opportunities that the town of Thorsby will benefit from, but this is not the project for us at this time.”