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2026 06 18

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Random Rippling - Opti Park gets new drinking fountain

posted: Jun. 18, 2026

Courtesy of Line One, 6418 Carrollton Avenue [D3 on map]:

Broad Ripple residents and visitors now have a fully functional drinking fountain at OptiPark, 780 E. 66th St [A3 on map], thanks to the generosity of several local organizations who cut the ribbon on the fountain. The new addition serves neighbors, families and community groups who frequent the park, which sits just south of the Indianapolis Art Center and in the heart of the Broad Ripple neighborhood.

image courtesy of L.D. Smith

The project also benefits several youth baseball leagues and teams that play at OptiPark, as well as the Indy Thunder Beep Baseball team for the blind and visually impaired community. In 2025, the team won its sixth World Series title after a perfect 26-0 season.

"It's amazing what can happen when neighbors and local businesses pull together," said Kent Dicken, board member of the North Side Optimist Club. "This fountain may seem small, but it means a lot to the players and families who spend time here."

The new fountain was installed through a project led by local business L.D. Smith Plumbing & Drains, which donated labor and materials valued at $8,395 to run the water line and complete installation. The company's owner, Lance Smith, coordinated the multi-partner effort from start to finish.

Random Rippling - Opti Park gets new drinking fountain

image courtesy of L.D. Smith

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The project brought together the following generous partners:

The North Side Optimist Club, which owns and manages OptiPark for the community, purchased the fountain and coordinated the concrete pad installation.
Winthrop Supply, owned by Molly and Will Steck, donated the fountain base valued at more than $1,000.
Citizens Energy Group waived the reconnection fee, ensuring the park's water service was restored at no cost.
L.D. Smith Plumbing & Drains installed the new fountain, donating labor and materials to run the water line and complete installation.

"We're in the business of solving problems, but projects like this remind us why we do what we do," said Lance Smith, owner of L.D. Smith Plumbing & Drains and coordinator of the multi-partner effort from start to finish. "It's about people and the ability to make everyday life a little easier for the community we serve."

Darnell Booker, board member of the North Side Optimist Club and coach and founder of the Indy Thunder, said the project is a needed and touching addition to the local facilities.

"For our players, something as simple as a water fountain makes a real difference," Booker said. "Italso enhances the park for everyone who comes here to enjoy it."

Kent Dicken, board member of the North Side Optimist Club, sent in a script that was not used at the dedication. It was written by his son using AI and your editor thought it was worth sharing.

Four juice boxes and seven snack times ago, our parents brought forth upon this playground a new generation of children, conceived in boundless energy and dedicated to the proposition that no one can possibly be thirsty before asking for a drink exactly thirty seconds after leaving the house.

Now we are engaged in a great recreational endeavor, testing whether any playground so designed can long endure without someone shouting, "I'M DYING OF THIRST!" from the top of the slide.

We have come to dedicate a portion of this playground as a final resting place for warm water bottles forgotten in minivans. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot sanitize this fountain. The brave children, living and sticky, who shall immediately press every button and attempt to wash their elbows in it, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but these kids will never forget where to sprint after twelve uninterrupted minutes of tag.

Let this fountain stand as a beacon of refreshment, a monument to hydration, and a testament to the enduring hope that, for once, everyone might take a turn without spraying their sibling in the face.

And now, by the authority vested in absolutely no one in particular, I declare this water fountain officially open. May its stream be cold, its pressure be mighty, and its drainage forever capable of handling the mysterious quantities of mulch children inevitably introduce into it.

image courtesy of L.D. Smith

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