Romkey Park is slated for $10 million in improvements in 2024-2025. In addition to a replacement for the 64-year-old municipal pool, plans include a new skate park, pickleball court and recreation center.Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Thanks to the largest grant award in its history, the Moorhead Parks and Recreation Department is getting ready to move forward on a major renewal of Romkey Park, including a new community pool for all ages.
Parks director Holly Heitkamp received word earlier this month that the city is one of five across the nation tapped to receive Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grants from the National Park Service. The $5 million federal grant will be matched by the city.
Central to Moorhead’s successful application, Heitkamp says, was the need to replace the deteriorating 64-year-old municipal pool. “It’s the only one in the city, but it’s well past its useful lifespan,” she points out. “In our northern climate, pools typically have a life expectancy of 25 to 40 years.”
Yet the pool, located at 800 19th St. S. east of the MSUM athletic fields, continues to be heavily used. Daily attendance is around 240; during the sizzling temperatures of last June, that number was closer to 300. More than 1,000 season passes are purchased by families all over the city.
The new pool accounts for about half of the $10 million in improvements. But the plan, dubbed “Reimagine Romkey Park,” extends much farther than the water. The preliminary design for the area includes replacement of the cramped 40-year-old recreation center, which has been used for the department’s summer children’s activity program. (That program will be moved to Morningside Park in 2024.) The new rec center will be adjacent to the pool, offering a location for training lifeguards.
Beyond the pool area, plans call for a new skate park and pickleball courts. Also included are enlargement of the basketball courts; improvements to the soccer and bocce ball fields; installation of a sledding hill; and a natural playground on the south end of the expanse. Earlier hopes for a splash pad have been scrapped, at least temporarily, due to funding concerns.
The Parks Department worked hard to gather the opinions of those who use or live near Romkey. According to Heitkamp, the department mailed 4,000 postcards across the city, receiving 147 responses. More people weighed in through the online survey on the agency’s website. It also sponsored an open house to gather ideas last November. Its grant application received strong support from community organizations including MSUM, M State and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Among the reasons for the federal award, says Heitkamp, is the nature of the neighborhood surrounding the park – the city’s most densely populated, as well as one of the lower-income areas. But she stressed that the centrally located park is used by far more than its immediate neighbors. “This is more of a community park,” she points out. “It’s close to the MSUM campus, too. These amenities offer a lot that college students are going to enjoy.”
Much of the preparation for the park project was already complete by the time the grant was submitted to the Department of the Interior early in 2023. That included an architectural study (which turned up nothing of historical significance) and an environmental review. YHR Partners has done initial design work on the new neighborhood recreation center, with preliminary site planning by SRF Consulting.
The project’s timing is still uncertain. Contractors will be invited to bid after the final contract is received from the Park Service. Heitkamp says that while some of the work may be done on the playground and fields this summer, construction of the new pool won’t begin until after the 2024 swimming season wraps up in August.