BEHIND THE PROJECT: How the splash pad happened

With the help of an award from the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program, Pahrump will be getting its very own splash pad. Local officials celebrated this milestone during an announcement on Friday at Simkins Park that drew a small crowd of families who were all overjoyed at the prospect of adding a new water feature to the community.

How it came together

Nye County Grants Administrator Jessica McCutcheon says plans for the splash pad are roughly a year-and-a-half in the making. That’s when the grants team began contemplating the project.

“I researched the costs, the location, and spoke with our town of Pahrump Buildings and Grounds Manager Jimmy Martinez about the possibilities. But we still needed to find funding and see if there was even an interest in town to utilize one, so the idea was put on the back burner for the time being,” McCutcheon said.

Then May rolled around and McCutcheon received an email from local parent Rayne Pryor, who wanted to learn what it would take for her to push a splash pad forward. McCutcheon recommended Pryor speak to the Nye County Commission and Pryor, along with more than a dozen other area families, didn’t hesitate. With data and statistics in hand, the group of Pahrump mothers presented the board with a very clear picture of community desire and that gave McCutcheon the fuel she needed to seek out possible funding sources.

Around the same time, Heidi Hill, a mobile expert at the Pahrump T-Mobile store, approached Nye County and town of Pahrump Manager Tim Sutton about the potential for a grant from the cell phone service provider. McCutcheon immediately applied. Of the 566 applications submitted by entities all around the U.S., only 25 were selected to receive funding and McCutcheon was delighted that Pahrump was one of the lucky few.

“The town of Pahrump has a shortage of free, family fun activities. In one of the hottest, driest parts of the county, relief from environmental stressors by improving access to water and cooler temperatures has a greater impact on people in need in our community than we would expect,” McCutcheon remarked. “The town of Pahrump splash pad at Simkins Park will be a gathering place for families to come and enjoy a free, outdoor recreational activity while beating the heat and co-mingling with other neighborhood families… This project will provide an activity for all of our residents to enjoy while staying environmentally conscious by maintain water-conserving features.”

The project has even gained the approval of the Nye County Water District, with that body’s general manager Dann Weeks stating, “We appreciate the extra work and research your office (county grants team) has spent in choosing to purchase a product that recycles the water used for recreation.”

T-Mobile Rural Market Manager Brian Robson said he was honored to be able to present the town with a Hometown Grant in the amount of $50,000. “That’s a big deal,” Robson stated. “That money will go a long way and it’s something near and dear to my heart, for the kids.”

The splash pad project is estimated to cost somewhere around $247,000 and the remainder of the cost will be borne by the town of Pahrump’s Capital Projects fund.

Town and county officials then gathered with T-Mobile representatives and Pryor, as a representative of the parents of the valley, for the ceremonial turning of the dirt.

Before the event came to a close, the Pahrump Valley Times spoke with Pryor, as well as local T-Mobile staff.

“I am so excited to see this happening,” Pryor told the Times. “I just want to show my kids that if you push for something and make enough noise, you can make it happen, you can make a difference. And I couldn’t have done it without the support of everyone who got involved, everybody who signed the petition, all of the moms, specifically Pahrump Mother’s Corner, and even the naysayers, whose comments really inspired us to do a lot of research on this.”

As for the T-Mobile staffers, Sergio Alvarez, T-Mobile Retail Store Manager for Pahrump, said his entire team was thrilled that their own town was chosen for the grant program.

“We love our community. I mean, I am literally out there with our team once a week doing something positive, volunteering, doing things for our seniors, for our pets, because T-Mobile is more than just cell phones. And that’s what this Hometown Grant is all about,” Alvarez said.

“And it’s not just the Hometown Grant, either. We have several other programs that the community of Pahrump could benefit from,” Robson added. These include Project 10Million, Connecting Heroes, Little League Call-up grants and programs for current and former military members.

“Project 10Million is an initiative aimed at closing the homework gap by delivering internet connectivity to millions of underserved K-12 students at no cost to them,” information from T-Mobile explains. “Partnering with school districts across the county, the Project 10Million program offers free, high-speed data and free mobile hotspots - and access to at-cost laptops and tablets.

“Connecting Heroes is T-Mobile’s 10-year commitment to provide every public and nonprofit state and local law enforcement, fire and EMS first responders agency across the county the ability to get free unlimited talk, text and smartphone data,” the information continues. “Little League Call-up Grants is dedicated to helping families in need by covering Little League registration fees… T-Mobile has a longstanding commitment to our military and veteran families. In the last year, we’ve reaffirmed our dedication through increased hiring commitments, new career assistance programs, community support initiatives and Magenta Military Plans - the biggest military discount in the industry!”

Applications and additional information on each of these programs can be found online at T-Mobile.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com.