NEW SPLASH PAD is on the way to Heritage Park

Get ready, kids. A new splash pad is on the way to Heritage Park!

The City Council on Tuesday, August 18 approved funding for the next phase of the Sheridan Center Open Air Pavilion project and dedicated the planned new splash pad to the late Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand.

Councilman Alex Garza read the proclamation that dedicated the planned new facility to Mr. Lamarand, who died last October at the age of 45. His wife Mishelle, daughter Jillian and son Nash attended the council meeting, as well as other family and friends.

It was late mayor who originally started the Sheridan project. Under his administration, the former recreation center and indoor hockey rink was renovated into an open air pavilion during the first phase of the project, which ended in June 2014. The open air pavilion has been used for summer festival concerts, special gatherings like the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Downriver Senior Olympics and most recently for the 2015 Taylor Farmer's Market sponsored by Oakwood Healthcare.

The new splash pad site will be located to the south end of the center, off of the patio/fireplace. Part of the same phase will include the installation of a new huge playscape and decorative fencing around the area. Behind the Sheridan Center is a newly created asphalt pad, which will house an inline skating rink. That rink is currently at Northwest Park, but is underused there. As part of the current City tree installation program, the front of the center is being landscaped.

The new splash pad will be customized as a baseball diamond, thanks to Taylor's deep tradition of Little League baseball and also honoring the Junior League World Series, which is held in Heritage Park every year (and is currently being played there). It will feature a scoreboard, elevated baseballs, bases and base paths and much more. This phase of the project will be funded out of the buildings and grounds fund. The usage of those funds is restricted to things like construction and building improvements, and building debt. 

The splash pads will use a regular water feed -- the water will not be recycled within its system. Earlier designs of splash pads featured recycled water and some locations had difficulties with bacteria buildup and other such difficulties. This model should have not any of those problems.

"When we are done with this, it should be a very nice fit to Heritage Park," Mayor Rick Sollars said. "Jeff started this process, so it makes plenty of sense to dedicate it to him. It was his vision, and we've continued to run with it and hopefully improve on it. When they customize this splash pad layout, I think our residents will really impressed."

The former mayor was first elected to City Council in 2005. He served on the Planning Commission and the Master Plan Steering Committee, along with the Tax Increment Finance Authority and the Brownfield Redevelopment Board. 

He campaigned for mayor against then incumbent Cameron Priebe in 2009 and won a resounding victory, marking the first time that Priebe had ever been defeated in an election. During his only term in office, Mayor Lamarand faced financial difficult challenges as the City – like many other Michigan municipalities – lost more and more revenue. Eventually, Mayor Lamarand made large cuts to staffing in City government and instituted a State of Michigan-approved Deficit Elimination Plan.

Current Mayor Sollars defeated then-Mayor Lamarand in the November 2013 General Election.

Mr. Lamarand graduated in 1987 from the old Taylor Center High School and continued his education at Eastern Michigan University. Originally he planned to pursue a degree in Sports Medicine, but his path changed. Working his way through college, he completed his degree in Physical Education in 1996 along with minors in Marketing and Political Science.

While job searching, he continued to work in the construction industry with his brother, Gary. In 1997, he decided to further advance his education and entered the graduate program for Public Administration at EMU. While studying at EMU, Mr. Lamarand began work with the Taylor School District as a substitute teacher and realized a passion for teaching. 

He completed his requirements while substitute teaching in Taylor and in 1999 was hired by the Crestwood School District in Dearborn Heights. While at Crestwood, he coached a variety of sports and spent nine years as the varsity softball coach. He also eventually completed his graduate degree in School Administration through Central Michigan University in 2003.