Director Settle says board should ‘do something very special’ and fund water slides

Fort Smith Director Kevin Settle is not backing away from his support of a Parrot Island Waterpark^[1] expansion even with news of budget-busting water slide installation costs. But he may be losing support from other members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors.

Acting Fort Smith City Administrator Jeff Dingman told the board Oct. 21^[2] that the low bid to install the slides was $2.8 million, which would push the total cost to acquire, assemble, and install the slides to around $6.35 million, well beyond the board-approved budget of $4.2 million. The city, according to Dingman, has already spent $3.55 million to acquire the slides and to prep them for installation.

The park, opened in 2015 at Ben Geren Regional Park, is jointly owned by the city and Sebastian County, which owns and manages the regional park.

Settle, the most vocal proponent of what has become a controversial $4.2 million plan to add the new slides to the park, told Talk Business & Politics that the regional economy will benefit from the expansion and the board and city administration should come up with options to pay the higher cost.

KEEP OR SELL
Directors Christina Catsavis and George Catsavis have said the city should sell the slides and recover as much of the $3.55 million as possible. Settle disagrees. He believes the city has time to find funding solutions.

“This is a 30-year investment with these slides,” Settle said when asked about calls to sell the slides and abandon the project. “This stuff doesn’t rot and go away in two years. This is a 30-year investment, so think about how you grow the park and use some of those funds to pay back. … Those are great discussion points we should have, and I’d be hundred percent for that.”

Talk of expanding the park with new slides began in July 2024 when Rick Coleman, CEO and founder of American Resort Management (ARM), the company that manages Parrot Island, informed city and county officials that slides initially destined for a park in Florida could be acquired for a significant discount.

In July 2024, the Fort Smith board approved spending $2.1 million to buy the slides, with Sebastian County to pay $2.1 million. At the time, the total of $4.2 million was estimated to cover the cost of buying and installing the slides. However, the Sebastian County Quorum Court voted twice to oppose paying for half of the cost. The Fort Smith board in September voted to approve the full $4.2 million to acquire and install the slides without funding support from Sebastian County.

‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’
Settle said in an Oct. 24 interview that he was “very disappointed” that the cost has escalated, but believes part of a solution could include using extra park income generated from the new slides to pay the city back. He said the new slides will increase park capacity by 500 people per day.

“It (waterpark expansion) will allow more visitors to come here because it turns into a tourist attraction with two new slides that nobody in the world will have,” adding later that the park makes money and is not a financial drain.

The waterpark has between 2020 and 2025 posted net operating income of $534,053. However, the 2025 financial report indicates a net operating loss of $255,789. (Talk Business & Politics plans to post a story Monday about the waterpark’s 2025 financial report.)

Settle also argues that the waterpark, and even more so with the additional water slides, is not just a recreational amenity, it’s a piece of the region’s economic development infrastructure.

“Fort Smith has an opportunity to do something very special,” he said. “We’re still trying to recruit people to come to our city, and something for kids and families to do in the summertime is something that will help drive that. … We’re competing not just on an Arkansas scale, but on a national and global scale to drive people here. … To say that we should get out of the amenity business sends the wrong message. Because that says, ‘Hey, we are not interested in growing, we’re not interested in being better.’”

OPEN TO OPTIONS
Settle said he hopes the board will work with city administration to consider funding solutions instead of pulling the plug on the project.

“As we normally do we will go through the budget process and utilize that,” Settle said. “You know, we’ve had people that have come to the (board) meetings and saying we should use some of the parks tax that has been dedicated. Maybe that’s an option to look at that and see what those avenues are. As with everything else, we just need to work through the numbers, see what comes out, and decide as a group. We also need to look at the future of the city and not just what we do today, but how can we invest in the future of our city and kids and our families going forward.”

Settle’s optimism will be challenged.

Director and Vice Mayor Jarred Rego, who consistently voted to support the waterpark expansion, said he is not sure he can support the extra cost but is open to options.

“I do not foresee being able to support spending on this project beyond the $4.2 million that has already been appropriated,” Rego said in a statement. “I believe this would be an especially heavy lift when you consider that, over the last seven months, no indication was given to the Board of Directors that additional appropriations would potentially be required above $4.2 million. Having said that, I do wish to see potential options for consideration from City Administration in the days and weeks to come.”

Director André Good, who also voted to fund the waterpark expansion, said he was surprised by Dingman’s revelation that “installation costs could significantly exceed what we paid to purchase the slides.”

“This does not align with previous assurances and I cannot support additional expenditures of this magnitude,” Good said. “I hope this project can be salvaged at or near the original cost I voted for. Administration is working with ARM and others to find ways to keep this project within the original approved budget. If they are not successful, I support parting ways with this project and recovering as much of our investment as possible.”

Related