MOORHEAD

A summer of splashes and sun is just weeks away at Moorhead’s Romkey Park.

Construction is wrapping up on the Reimagine Romkey project, which started in 2024. The $11.3 million project is replacing Moorhead’s outdoor public pool and adding various amenities to Romkey Park. The revamped park will have a splash pad, playground, pickleball and basketball courts, skate park, soccer field, sledding hill and natural play area.

Recreation Supervisor Melissa Discher said changes to the park will make it a welcoming space for families.

“I have a feeling kids are not going to want to leave once they get here, because it’s just going to be so fun,” Discher said.

The Romkey Park pool is scheduled to open on June 4. The rest of the park will open in the following weeks, according to Moorhead Parks and Recreation Director Sean Brandenburg.

In the meantime, crews are putting the finishing touches on features around the park.

The new U-shaped swimming pool will replace a pool that was built in 1958. It will have two water slides, a diving board and a climbing wall. The shape of the pool will allow for it to be used for lap swim and water exercise classes at the same time.

Moorhead Parks and Recreation holds around 400 swimming lessons each year.

The pool’s large deck was made to accommodate the many child care groups that frequent the pool, Discher said. Near the swimming pool is a wading pool, which gradually gets deeper from the pool deck.

The pool building has a multipurpose room for party rentals, classes and after-school programs.

The splash pad created a lot of buzz during the community outreach phase of the project, Discher said. It is located outside of the pool’s fence, allowing for it to be open outside of pool hours and later into the season.

Most of the park’s other amenities will be scattered around the south side of the park. The project keeps the basketball courts, with upgraded backboards. It adds pickleball courts to the park, adding a new place to play an increasingly popular sport.

The park’s sledding hill will provide a winter activity within walking distance of a dense neighborhood, Brandenburg said.

“There’s a lot of kids in this neighborhood, so I think this is a perfect place for them to spend their summers and evenings after school,” Brandenburg said.

The $11.3 million project is being paid for with a $5 million federal grant and $6.3 million in local funds.

Discher has been involved with the project since the beginning, including the writing of the grant proposal for the federal funding. She said the project nearing completion is a dream.

“I think anyone in a position like what I have, this is what you would dream of being able to do with a department,” Discher said. “I just feel really grateful that I’ve been able to be a part of it.”