Knights Field Spray Ground closed for 2026 season

Knights Field Spray Ground will not open for the 2026 season, Wooster City Council learned at its regular meeting June 15.

“We have been dealing with some maintenance issues down there — an unforeseen electric failure at the site,” said Philip Turske, deputy director of administration. “We have been working to get replacements. Money is not the issue in getting the replacement pumps; it’s the timing.

“We are in a one-month delay in how soon those can come. So, with that, if we ordered it today, it wouldn’t be here until the middle of July. Pool season ends Aug. 15, so we would have a matter of weeks if they are on time.”

To accommodate those impacted by the Knights Field closure, Turske said Wooster’s new transportation service, WayGo, with approval from ODOT, is adding a free temporary bus stop to Freedlander Pool for any patron who was going to visit Knights Field. They can get on the bus at Community Action near Knights Field on the south side of the city.

“That way they have transportation to an aquatic facility,” Turske said.

Council member Drew Paul praised Turske for coming up with a unique solution to a problem down at Knights Field.

“For the people we serve down there, it’s not what they wanted to hear, but at least we found an equitable solution to help them enjoy their summer,” Paul said.

While it is an unfortunate situation, Joel Montgomery, director of administration, said it will be an opportunity to receive feedback from users of Knights Field Spray Ground.

“It’s something we’ve been planning anyway as we’ve been keeping track of our usage of our aquatic facilities,” Montgomery said. “Knights Field is about 2-3% of our usage, so it’s a very, very small percent, but we also know it’s in a neighborhood that uses it.”

Council also approved two ordinances and four resolutions at the meeting.

The ordinances included the following:

—Approving current replacement pages to the codified ordinances to include various ordinances of a general and permanent nature, as well as traffic and misdemeanor provisions revised to comply with current state law.

—Amending the annual appropriation ordinance because the city was awarded a little more than $1 million in Community Development Block Grant Community Housing Impact and Preservation Program funds to help address local housing needs for low- to moderate-income residents in Wayne County. These grant funds will be utilized beginning on or about July 1, 2026, coinciding with the state’s fiscal year.

The resolutions adopted included the following:

—Allowing the director of administration to enter into a professional services contract for cleaning of three stripping towers, specialized industrial columns that purify city water.

—Authorizing the expenditure of additional funds for laboratory services from Eurofins Drinking Water & Wastewater, which, earlier this year, acquired Alloway, which the city has used for many years.

—Permitting the expenditure of additional funds for the purchase of parts and supplies for preventive maintenance and repairs to water and sewer line infrastructure.

—Appropriating grant funds received from the Ohio Law Enforcement Body Armor Program. In 2025 the police division purchased bulletproof vests for most of the department’s officers. This expenditure was taken out of the police division budget. Once these vests were purchased, the department requested and received a grant from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to pay for 75% of the total cost of these vests. The reimbursement from the AG will be received in the amount of $15,890.12, which will be allocated back into the police department operations equipment budget.

Council doesn’t have another regular meeting until Sept. 8.