City Commissioners approved a funding agreement and playground purchase for Morony Park during their July 1 meeting.
Commissioners approved a $194,795 Community Development Block Grant funding agreement with the Park and Recreation Department for the project.
Staff have been planning to install a new playground at Morony Park since the Natatorium was closed in 2018 and demolished in late 2023.
Natatorium demolition project complete [2024]
Morony Park is centrally located and one of the few city parks with designated off street parking and staff pursued an ADA accessible play structure that was eligible for CDBG funding since the park is within a low to moderate income area as designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Park and Rec submitted a CDBG application that was reviewed and approved by the city’s internal review committee.
The city is purchasing the playground through Sourcewell, is a governmental purchasing service cooperative based in Minnesota.
The city has a Sourcewell membership to view their competitive bid contracts and can interact directly with awarded vendors to facilitate a purchase, allowing the city to work with the Sourcewell contract manager to verify pricing, answer contract questions or any other questions that may arise.
City approves contract update for Natatorium demolition [2023]
Commissioners also approved a $92,000 purchase from Grondahl Recreation Inc. for a ADA custom Nucleus play system.
City Park and Rec staff will install the equipment and prep the surrounding area, then a contractor will install poured-in-place rubberized pathways around the playground, according to staff.
Staff told commissioners that they expect to purchase the playground equipment immediately and installation will occur this summer or early fall.
Morony Park is located at 111 12th St. N. and is part of the site where the Natatorium was previously located.
Natatorium demolition underway [2024]
The land was part of a land exchange with the Great Falls Water and Power Townsite Company in 1910 with a deed restriction that it must be used for “park purposes.” If the city stops using the land as a park, the deed states that it reverts back to the grantor, according to the city.
The Natatorium that was demolished in 2023 was the second indoor public pool built on the property.
City to consider contract for Natatorium demolition [2023]
The first was recommended for closure in October 1963 due to structural deficiencies and the reporting engineer advised at the time that the facility “be abandoned and not used for the public” due to significant settling throughout the building, according to the city, that caused walls to shift, the pool to leak and the foundation to crack.
The second Natatorium was built in 1966 and dedicated in 1967, meeting a similar fate of the first pool with structural problems, settling and leaking.
Citizens ask to save Natatorium; city plan remains closure by Dec. 31 [2018]
There was already a basketball court at the park and staff is planning to resurface that court in the future, as well as add a pavilion and automated irrigation to repurpose the land into a new neighborhood park.
