1. A little bit of background
Planning for the University Park is in the very early stages and we want to know what you think before we proceed. What do you want, what don’t you want, what are YOUR ideas?
What is Spray Play?
Think of your front yard sprinkler but on a larger scale and with a billion times the fun factor. Spray play is a new concept in water play that has no standing water, so it does not require chemical treatment, recirculating systems, or a lifeguard. Whereas the existing wading pool is only in use during the weekdays while the summer Fun-For-All program is in operation, the spray play features can be activated by the push of a button 7 days a week during park hours.
Why not just keep the wading pool?
New health and safety regulations require that our aging wading pools either be retrofitted with cost prohibitive recirculating systems and be chemically treated or that they be closed after the summer of 2009. Even after a costly rebuild, the hours of operation and play factor would still be limited. Fortunately, we have an opportunity to convert the defunct wading pools to interactive spray play parks. An example of this conversion has just been completed at Fairmount Park where the Eugene Parks Foundation assisted the neighborhood group with just such an endeavor. The Eugene Parks Foundation plans to help convert the remaining closed wading pools into spray play parks, they are starting with Washington Park and we hope University Park will be next in line.