Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The City of Howell is working out some safety kinks following the opening of its new Fire & Ice Depot District water feature.

On Monday evening, the City announced “The Fire and Ice Depot District water feature is currently closed until further notice for enhanced safety precautions. We appreciate everyone's understanding during this time”.

The closure of the water feature follows some reports of kids running barefoot and slipping and/or falling on the new surface.

Throughout the project and construction, the City has stated “it is not a splash pad, but an interactive water feature”.

New signage is up advising of the rules. It states “Slippery when wet. No Running. Please Walk at all times. Shoes Recommended”. Children must be supervised at all times, and benches are “for sitting only”.
Hours of operation are listed as 8am to 8pm, with it noted the start button will not work outside of those hours.

Restroom hours of operation are 8am to 5pm.

Mayor Nikolas Hertrich told WHMI “We recognize that there are opportunities for safety enhancements. We want everyone to be safe. The response to the water feature has been amazing - we’ve had people out there all the time. Again, we recognize there are opportunities for some improvements and that’s what we’re looking at doing”.

Hertrich said the City has reached out to its local engineers and contractor to evaluate options - stressing “we want to get this back up and running as quickly as possible but also make sure that what we are doing is the right option”.

Hertrich said they have outlined some rules and specifics in the meantime like no running and wearing shoes but there are other opportunities for enhancements and improvements so the decision was made to just shut it down for now and make any needed adjustments.

Hertrich added “This is a learning experience for us as a City - prior to last week, we didn’t own or operate a water feature or a pavilion – so there are always opportunities to learn and chances to look and see where we can make improvements. This is something we want the community to enjoy. It’s a community gathering spot is how I look at it, and so I want to make sure that it’s utilized and maximized and being enjoyed but we're also making improvements where improvements need to be made”.