The feasibility study to determine what it would take to turn the closed Memorial Park swimming pool in the city into a spray park is nearing completion.

Because of that, a public meeting on the study is set for 6:30 p.m. March 18 at the city building. Pashek Associates of Pittsburgh was hired in October by the city to do the study.

Consultant Bob Good of Pashek Associates said the “vision” of the park will be shown at that meeting.

Good said the spray equipment replaces the pool.

“There’s no standing water in the park,” he said of the plan.

Good said at least one shelter would be added to the park.

The $17,000 study was paid for with funds from the Support Our Spray Park group, which was formed in 2005 by Broad Street Elementary School teachers attempting to save the pool.

The Butler A.M. Rotary Club approached the group in September to kick-start the initiative by having a feasibility study done. “We wanted to help get this project going forward,” said Dick Musko, club member.

The club has helped organize similar projects in the past, including playgrounds at Alameda and Armco parks.

Musko said the Rotary Club and the spray park group have twice met with leaders from the city and Butler County to discuss the study with Bob Good, the Pashek Associates representative doing the study.

The most recent meeting was Tuesday.

Those involved include representatives from city council, the city redevelopment authority, and the county parks and recreation department.

Musko said the meetings have been encouraging, and said the project seems to be a realistic option.

The A.M. Rotary Club hopes to use its experience and resources in the community to help collect the funds for the project.

“We have a marketing plan that has worked well in the past,” Musko said, referencing the other playground projects.

Musko said it was too early to comment on what it would cost to complete the project, but said the club would seek donations, sponsorships and grants to help pay for it.

He said the real issue discussed during the interest group meetings was the park’s yearly maintenance.

“Even if we can raise the money to get the park built, the issue was whether the city could support it,” he said.

Good said the goal is to complete the study by mid-April.

Councilwoman Kathy Kline, who has wanted to bring a water park to the city since she took office in 2006, said the study estimates it would take $30,000 a year to operate the park.

However, Kline said a portion of that price can be reduced. She said the estimate includes employee wages, and the city parks and recreation department already has staff members who could maintain the park.

She said the city also could work with Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College to attract interns from their parks and recreation programs to be on-site supervisors.

Regardless of how much the city could cut from the estimate, Kline said the operational cost would be “substantially lower” than operating a swimming pool.

A 2008 study on whether the city could support a swimming pool estimated the annual operating cost to be more than $60,000, Kline said.

The annual expense of the pool is a main reason why the pool has been closed for nearly a decade.

“People can come together and build anything,” Kline said. “The real work is maintaining it.”

While there is a lot of work to be done, Kline is confident the city can support a spray park.

“I definitely think we can support it,” she said. “I’m very excited to see this moving forward.”