SplashJam at Northeastern Park

Lexington is a really good city for kids and having fun things to do with them. But, one thing that is really lacking are splash pads or other water features that kids can play in. True, there a ton of pools in the area that have great splash areas, but they are fairly expensive ($9) for my son and I when we can only go for an hour or so because of nap time. We started going to the fountains downtown near the Courthouse, but it really isn't optimal with the hard surface and the large number of homeless people that are around the courthouse. We have also recently been disappointed to go and find the fountain turned on full blast, which is way too much water for my 2 year old to be comfortable in.

So, I was really excited to hear that they were putting in a temporary splash pad in Northeastern Park (by Thoroughbred Park) called SplashJAM. We have been patiently waiting for it to open, since it was supposed to open July 4th weekend but had some delays. Well, we finally were able to check it out this morning and I was pretty pleased.

It is open from 10am to 8pm every day through the end of the summer. For some reason, I thought is was going to be a bit bigger than it is (around 10ft by 20ft) but there were only 4 other kids there with us, so that was fine. It may get a bit tight on a really crowded day. There are a bunch of chairs around the splash area for parents to sit in and some umbrellas, which is a really nice feature. In the morning, when we went, the pad was in the shade, but I bet it is in full sun by around noon time and the umbrellas would be nice then. There is a changing area (in the back of the above picture). Although this is really nice, it wasn't too private and I bet the shower curtain would blow up just at the right moment during changing. Also, there isn't a bench in the changing area, so changing a toddler or infant could be really tough in here.

The splashpad itself seemed pretty nice. There were a lot of sprinkler heads (not sure if this is what they are called), and the grey ones could be adjusted by hand to increase the water or decrease the water coming out. My son is a little shy around a ton of water, so he hung around the smaller ones. But, for those kids that like to get in there and get soaked, they would be able to do that in the bigger jets. There is wood around the pad (since it is elevated) and then they recently put sod around the splashpad. So, it is muddy once the jets start.

One big negative we found was the area that has the engines for the pumps is under a raised area of wood (see the area on the right in the picture below). It is so slide-like that all the kids there were wanting to climb on it and slide down or walk down. Well, it is wet wood, so it is incredibly slippery. While we were there, my son was pretty convinced it was a slide and bumped his head on it and another older child was walking down it and slipped and slammed his face into the wood. Poor dude, I know that hurt. So, just be super cautious of this area.

There is a playground next to the splashpad that was pretty fun. It has slides, and climbing areas and a shake-shake bridge thing that my son loved. Overall, the playground was good but could use a bit of updating at some point. There is a open sight line from the splash pad to the playground, which is great for parents with multiple kids that all want to be doing something different. Behind the playground there were two Porta Potty's and a sink area with water, soap and paper towels (in stock!). No specific area for changing little ones, but there are plenty of shaded areas in the grass.

Parking is all free street parking on either Short Street or Eastern Avenue. There were plenty of spaces when we went on Eastern, but Short Street seemed pretty full.

Overall, we will definitely be back again this summer. It is so nice to be able to spend a morning having fun and cooling off without it costing a ton. Plus, the whole reason they are doing a temporary splash pad is to gauge interest in putting new permanent ones in. And, I love that idea! I do wish there was easier parking, but understand the importance of placing this downtown so everyone has access. So, get out there everyone and show how much these areas are needed for our kids!

UPDATE: We went to the splash pad today and witnessed a man screaming in the face of one of the mom's there. They did not know each other, and I did not see what happened to cause this, but the other moms there said that he just ran at them and confronted them. So, please be careful of you and your kids here. Lots of people walk through this area and not all of them are safe.