Spray parks prove wise investments
OK, we were wrong. Mostly. Spray parks are indeed appealing replacements for swimming pools at Bakersfield city parks, for a few reasons.
The tone of past editorials about spray parks, those rubbery-surfaced fun zones designed to divert and delight children (and others) at seven Bakersfield parks, might have left readers with the distinct impression that the whimsical contraptions are poor substitutes for pools.
If the two primary goals of transitioning from pools to spray parks are cost savings and public participation, spray parks are resounding successes. If you've visited or even driven past one of these attractions, you need no convincing: City parks are packed on a daily basis this time of year. Nothing we can remember from the days before spray parks even comes close.
You've also got to like the fact that spray parks seem to bring entire families to city parks, providing a little more bang for their tax buck.
And at about $250,000 apiece, the construction cost of a typical spray park is much less than that of a swimming pool. Additionally, the cost of maintenance, repair and renovation is significantly less than the upkeep on pools.
But the downside of eliminating swimming pools remains as significant as ever. Spray parks are poor substitutes when it comes to promoting physical fitness and water competency in the community, particularly among youth.
One need look no further than that ongoing bane of city park officials' existence, the ponds at the Park at Riverwalk. Three people have drowned in those relatively new lakes, including a 17-year-old boy on May 22, and although lack of supervision was a factor in all three cases, general water competency deserves attention too.
All teens should have basic water survival skills by the time they graduate from high school -- an unrealistic goal in today's economic environment made even less achievable as community pools dry up and blow away all over Bakersfield.
Rivers, lakes, streams and private pools become all the more enticing when summer temperatures push into the 90s and beyond. A nonswimming public is an at-risk public. Programs like those at downtown Bakersfield's McMurtrey Aquatic Center can and do help bridge the gap, but the city will be wise to protect the other aquatic resources that remain, establishing partnerships whenever possible.
Aside from that, it's good to see Bakersfield's spray parks getting some use, preserving limited city funds and bringing families together in a cool, wet, safe way. City parks are meant to be enjoyed by the public, and spray parks make it happen.
