Contractors working for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation were ready last fall to convert the wading pool at River Street’s Ryan Playground into a spray deck, as part of a statewide effort to cut down on pool maintenance and staffing.

But days away from the start of construction, community members lit into agency officials, saying they hadn’t been consulted on the move and they preferred keeping the wading pool. Chastened officials pulled back, and they’ve been working with state Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley on a different set of improvements.

At a public listening session last Thursday (June 1), DCR officials laid out plans to double the size of the wading pool and add new spraying features, new benches, and shade and rinsing stations. DCR has pointed to the Artesani Pool in Allston, by the Charles River, to describe what they are going for.

“It’s been a complete 180 and I’m grateful and excited by the prospect,” Fluker Oakley said. “They took the time to go back to the drawing board.”

The playground currently spans 17,600 square feet, while the wading pool is 8,500 square feet.

The Ryan playground’s public restrooms will also see improvements, with windows and paint.

The design to double the size of the pool “makes it better and bigger than before,” Fluker Oakley said.

DCR has already reinstalled benches and redone tennis, pickle ball, and basketball courts, with plans to repair pathways and refresh the playground’s wood fiber surface.

The parking lot is another part of the playground that is likely to see changes. There are nine parking spaces, and DCR officials are presenting several options, ranging from less parking (which comes with improved access to the Neponset River Greenway), additional parking that improves the circulation of cars but comes at the expense of play space, and no parking, with more green space, a re-aligned crosswalk and improved trail entrance. There is no off-street parking available.

The playground and wading pool are a six-minute walk from the MBTA’s Mattapan Station. The Central Avenue station on the Mattapan trolley line is a 15 minute walk away, and the No. 24 bus runs near the playground.

Fluker Oakley said DCR is planning to start construction and renovations at the end of summer and have the playground and pool ready to open next year.

Community members can submit comments on DCR’s website until June 22. “This really is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to think about what we want in Ryan playground,” she said.