Hopkinsville’s municipal water park will have a new name — Bluegrass Splash — and the benefit of approximately $900,000 in repairs and improvements when it reopens this spring.
City officials announced the name change Wednesday. Bluegrass Splash was the choice of a committee that included Hopkinsville Parks and Recreation staff, Mayor James R. Knight Jr. and others who reviewed submissions to a naming contest, according to a press release.
Fifteen participants in the naming contest who submitted Bluegrass Splash or a close variation will receive the contest award — four season passes to the facility.
The new brand will replace Tie Breaker Family Aquatic Center, a name taken from the adjacent city recreation facility at Eagle Way.
Tie Breaker Park earned its name following a December 1998 city council meeting where then-Mayor Wally Bryan broke a tie vote on the council to move forward with plans for a new fire station and recreation facility that would feature five softball fields, volleyball courts, picnic pavilions and walking paths.
In March 2001, the city opened Tie Breaker Park. It cost approximately $2.7 million to develop. Then in May 2007 the water park opened. It cost approximately $3.4 million to build.
A major leak discovered in 2021 forced the city to close the swimming facility for the entire 2022 season. The repairs and renovation amounted to “a widespread makeover,” the release states. The work included painting, new climbing features and recoating the slides.
Club & Leisure Partners, a division of Swim Club Management Group, will manage the facility.
The city is preparing to open Bluegrass Splash on Memorial Day weekend. Applications are being accepted for lifeguards and front office jobs. Applications can be submitted through email at kentuckyops@clubandleisure.com.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
