Except for the splash pad, Thornton Park is fully open. Ottawa City Hall says the splash pad is closed for the season. But the contractors finished with the ball courts and landscaping where the brick pavers were. The city got a $305,100 state grant in 2020 to pay for park improvements. City Hall delayed going out for bids when the pandemic started, fired the first contractor it hired for the job, and added to the project in the last two months to round it out.
The Thornton Park sandbox in August 2018 before volunteers replaced sand with mulch. Kids loved the sand. Parents, not so much.
Mulch where sand used to be at Thornton Park in August 2018. This area now has playground equipment.
The public looks over Thornton Park improvement options at a meeting in the park in 2019.
The Thornton Park turtle on its back seemed a good symbol for a park project stalled. City Hall fired a contractor it said took too long to get the work done.
Playground equipment awaiting installation in August 2021.
A park equipment installer works on a sunny day at Thornton Park in 2022.
Taylor Thornton takes a run through the newly installed splash pad at the park her family created in 1966. The Thornton Foundation gave the park to the city in 2015.
Thornton Park’s new splash pad was a popular place for children on hot days right after it opened in 2022.