‘Splash!’ opens in Lexington as temperatures soar past 90
Lexington’s East Side has long been a pool and water play desert.
Thanks to donations from the Blue Grass Community Foundation, Kentucky American Water and taxpayer dollars, kids and adults will finally have a place to cool off and have fun.
The city officially opened Splash!, a new splash pad and water play feature, Thursday at Charles Young Park off of Midland Avenue.
The opening comes as the city braces for a heat wave that will send temperatures north of 90 over the next few days.
“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” said Percy Thomas, chair of the Charles Young Center Advisory Board, at the official ribbon cutting for Lexington’s newest and largely privately funded splash pad.
“This splash pad is a true asset to our neighborhood,” Thomas said.
The new water feature also celebrates the history of Brig. Gen. Charles Young, who the park is named after and was the third Black man to graduate from West Point.
Details about Young’s life and military career dot the exterior of the new water play feature, said Mayor Linda Gorton during Thursday’s ceremony.
More than $1.3 million in private funding was raised for the new water feature, including a $600,000 challenge grant from the Knight Foundation and $250,000 from American Water Charitable Foundation, the foundation associated with Kentucky American Water.
Gorton said the new splash pad will complement recent upgrades to the park playground and resurfaced basketball court at Charles Young Park. Splash! is also located near the recently completed Town Branch Commons Trail.
“Splash! has something for everyone,” Gorton said. “It’s designed for children of all ages and abilities.”
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, kids hopped in and out of the water feature while Gorton and others spoke.
The sound of kids playing and screaming in the water was a welcome sound, said Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Tayna Fogle, who represents the neighborhoods around Charles Young Park.
“This is the sounds of our future behind us,” Fogle said. “We will make this safe. We will bring our children back to the park.”
Lisa Adkins, president and CEO of the Blue Grass Community Foundation, which spearheaded efforts to match Knight Foundation funding for the park, said multiple foundations and individuals stepped up to help raise the $1.3 million.
In 2016 and 2017, the city installed a temporary splash pad and play area at Northeastern Park not far from Charles Young. The neighborhood used that temporary splash and water feature, proving that a permanent splash pad was needed, Adkins said.
Prior to the temporary splash pad, many East End kids dipped into the city’s fountains, including those at Thoroughbred Park, to cool off when temperatures climbed.
Adkins said investing in public spaces benefits entire neighborhoods.
“We know when a community gains a new public space like this, neighbors are happier, healthier and more prosperous,” Adkins said.
In addition to Charles Young, Lexington has four spraygrounds and splash pads at Castlewood, Douglass, Jacobson and Masterson Station parks.