By Joseph Deinlein
The Daily Item
NORTHUMBERLAND —
Northumberland borough could get $40,000 to cover the cost of installing a bowl slide at the water park it owns.
But Northumberland County Planning Director Pat Mack said the borough would need to determine if it qualifies for a Community Development Block Grant in that amount to pay for the slide at Liberty Splashland.
Mack said that could take a few months.
Borough Councilman Greg Carl said he and Mack met with representatives from SEDA-Council of Governments, who are familiar with the grant-application process and are going to help. He said that, in the past, the borough has not qualified for block grants because of its income.
Meanwhile, a fund drive has netted about $63,000 in private donations and other grants toward the $100,000 campaign, Carl said.
The borough approached the county several weeks ago and asked for contributions to build the slide.
Northumberland County Commissioner Vinny Clausi said he is in favor of giving the money to the borough from the county’s general fund, a proposal rejected by board Chairman Frank Sawicki and Commissioner Kurt Masser.
Clausi said he views the slide as a tourist attraction and said it’s only fair to help out Northumberland since the county is investing in developing the Off Highway Recreation Park for off-roading in the Coal Region.
The slide is at Liberty, but its installation is not complete, Carl said. The hope is to have it done for the start of the season next year.
Borough officials say it will be the fourth such slide in Pennsylvania, and the only one that would be operated at a municipally owned park.
“A thrill ride, the bowl slide starts users about 40 (feet) off the ground,” reads the borough’s website. “You enter the tube with hands crossed over your chest and feet crossed and zoom down the tube. Once you enter the bowl, you spin around and around and then splash down into a small swimming pool.”
Carl said word has spread about the plans for the splash park, for which he’s worked 11 years.
In 2009, attendance set a record with about 8,200 people.
That record was broken this year, with 11,527 people, a more than 40-percent increase over last year, Carl said.
While he admits the hot summer might have had something to do with it, he thinks building excitement also played a part.
“We really didn’t do much this year, other than having the slide sitting there, and attendance is up 40 percent,” he said.
For more on the Liberty Splashland bowl slide campaign, visit the borough website at site.accessnorthumberland.com, mouse over the “Liberty Splashland” button and click “Bowl Slide Campaign.”
-- Reporter Marcia Moore contributed to this story.
