“Let us in! Let us in!” a chorus of small voices chanted on Thursday afternoon as about 80 kids of varying ages swarmed the perimeter of the brand-new splash pad at Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park, impatiently waiting for the ribbon to be cut by Goleta City Mayor Paula Perotte.
As the speeches from local officials went on, water started bubbling from the jets in the cushioned, fall-forgiving floor tiles, each time accompanied by a squeal from an eager child.
After eight years since the park’s opening, the long awaited splash pad is now open, and operational from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week — every day except Wednesdays — from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Watching her son Wylder Wood gallivant through the water and shoot down the playground slide, Rhiannon Mendoza said that this splash pad is an amazing addition to her neighborhood. As a preschool teacher, Mendoza is conscious of the lack of public amenities for younger age groups, and this splash pad gives Goleta kids something “to do on the weekends that doesn’t cost a membership or isn’t super far away.”
The 32 jets feed off a recirculated water system, which uses far less water than a swimming pool. Sanitized by filter, UV light, and chlorine, the jets of water are activated by two buttons located on blue posts near the entrance to the pad. The jets run on a 15-minute timer, saving water when the pad is not in use.
“It was the drought that kept us waiting so long for the splash pad,” said Goleta District 2 Councilmember James Kyriaco, so water conservation is at the forefront of the design.
The land was purchased by the city in 2011, and blueprints for the park started being drafted in 2012. “In the early designs, almost every rendering included a splash pad,” said Mayor Perotte.
When construction began on the park in 2018, a water moratorium was imposed on Goleta, and the splash pad faced the chopping block. But, instead of completely nixing the plans, waterlines were still placed and infrastructure built, for a future date when the design could come to fruition.
That day came about a week after the park officially opened, sans splash pad, in spring of 2019, when the water moratorium was lifted. “From that moment on, we got to work,” said Perotte.
Goleta’s mayor smiled as she watched over the bathing-suit-clad kids leaping, sliding, and dashing through the spray. She said this space “represents the families and children who will laugh and giggle and scream and yell and make memories from here for generations to come.”
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