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Lighting elements transform splash pads into multipurpose community spaces 

Communities are reimagining splash pads to be more than areas where kids play and beat the heat. Certainly, providing water-based activities that allow little ones to have fun and keep cool in the summer sun is still a priority. But communities also are realizing that water features at splash pads can be used to create multipurpose spaces that bring together people of all ages and abilities. A key design element that’s helping communities create these multipurpose spaces is lighting.

An Illuminating Addition

Adding lighting to a splash pad can enhance both its functionality and aesthetics.

For starters, there’s a growing desire within communities to keep splash pads open later. In some communities, even the allure of cooling off at a splash pad isn’t enough to draw families out of their homes during days of sweltering heat, which can be both uncomfortable and dangerous. Phoenix, for example, set a record this year with 113 consecutive days of temperatures above 100 degrees.

Using simple accent lighting, splash pads can stay open past dusk, allowing kids to still have fun and stay cool after the harsh daytime sun has set. LED lighting that’s paired with water jets also can keep the fun going into the night and enhance play, such as by allowing kids to have fun in water that’s “painted” with different colors. The lights can even turn on and off to move with the water as it shoots from the jets at timed intervals.

Additionally, lighting features can create ambience and beautify these spaces to breathe new life into them at night. They can draw older residents on strolls, create hangout places for young people or simply wow passersby in the evening hours. Some communities also have combined water and lighting features to create a picturesque backdrop for events like evening concerts.

New Life for an Old Fountain in Boise

For years, the beloved fountain at Ann Morrison Park in Boise, Idaho, was better suited for picture-taking than play. But a renovation project at the park last year transformed the fountain into a spray park where residents of all ages can play, connect and simply cool off in the warmer months.

The signature element at the park is a 70-foot-long, fully inclusive water play environment with 69 LED-lit water jets. The jets create a tunnel of streams that children and adults alike can run or walk through. At the edges of the water play area, 14 waterfall-like water weirs cascade out of concrete benches, allowing visitors to cool their feet.

When the sun sets, the spray park becomes a colorful spectacle. The LED lights can illuminate the water jets in the dark with a full spectrum of colors. The park even programmed the lights to shine red, white and blue to celebrate the Fourth of July.

A Day-and-Night Difference Maker

With the simple addition of lighting, splash pads can be more than areas for daytime fun — they can become community hubs. And, by extending the operating hours and function of these spaces, they can become more inclusive and engaging for all members of a community.

Aaron Skogen is General Manager at Aquatix by Landscape Structures Inc.