Update: $40 million Pasco water park makes a splash with voters
The Pasco Aquatic Facility vote will pass with a larger than expected margin after vote counts were updated on Wednesday.
Initial returns showed the “Yes” votes ahead by about 8.5% after polls closed on Tuesday, paving the way for voters to approve a sale tax increase to fund the $40 million Aquatic Facility.
That lead increased to just over 10% as about 900 of the remaining votes were counted on Wednesday.
The vote count now sits at 4,116 votes, or 55%, in favor and 3,363 votes, or 45%, against.
The Franklin County Elections office estimates only about 50 more votes will be counted before the election is certified on May 6.
The sales tax increase of .02% would amount to 2 cents on a $10 purchase.
Coming to fruition
For nearly a decade the idea of a public aquatic facility in the Tri-Cities has been discussed, but has struggled to gain traction.
It was first proposed as a Tri-Cities-wide initiative, but that vote failed in 2013 when brought before voters by the Tri-Cities Regional Public Facilities District.
After several years of discussion, Pasco decided to go it alone, and approved a ballot measure earlier this year.
Voter turnout was 22.25% or 7,479 votes cast. The Franklin County elections office will only update with 500 or more votes, so with an estimated 50 votes left, the final tally will be released when the election is certified next week.
Water park facility
As proposed, the facility would be built on about 4.6 acres — the first phase would be nearly 47,000 square feet and the second just over 13,000 square feet.
The location of the water park in Pasco was still to be determined but some sites of interest have been discussed in west Pasco.
The first phase would include an 8,000-square-foot indoor leisure pool, a 20,000-square-foot outdoor activity pool, a party room, classroom, outdoor concessions and locker rooms.
The second phase would see an 8-lane, 25-yard indoor competition pool added — paid for with the cash balance of the bond.
The first phase expected to employ 16 full- and part-time workers.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 8:30 PM.
