DUBLIN, Ga. — Rain may be in the forecast this week, but it's never too early to start thinking about summer, and the city of Dublin has summer on its mind as it prepares to open its new water park.
At Southern Pines Park, you can already see the waterpark taking shape.
Laurens County Recreation Authority operations manager Brian Mallette says crews have been working through the cold and rainy weather to get this water park done.
Back in August, there was nothing but dirt on the ground at Southern Pines; fast forward to now and things are looking a lot different.
"We have been working on getting the structure ready, as far as pouring concrete for the lazy river, wading pool," Mallette said
The $1.8 million project is being split among the county, city, and rec department.
The park will feature two water slides, a splash pad and a pool. It's a bonus Elizabeth Coleman thinks the city needs.
"You can get caught up in the monotony of doing the same thing, going to the same place over and over again," Coleman said.
The new park, which should be completed this April, gives Coleman hope all of Laurens County can have something fun and new to enjoy.
"To have something like that, like I said, that is also going to attract tourism, meeting new people, having communities get involved, I think it is very important," Coleman said.
Not only will the park bring in more people, but Mallette says it will add 22 jobs to the county.
"We have had great results with our applications, and I think right now we are a little over 60 applications, so for a small community like Dublin, that is really good," Mallette said.
He says the park will have a soft opening in mid-April but open fully to the public Memorial Day weekend, but first, they are asking the public to name it.
"I really don't know, because it has to be something that makes a statement, " Coleman said.
If you have a cool name, be sure to email it in and you could enjoy the water park this summer for FREE.