“Excuse me, guys. Can we listen to Laurie Berkner?”
So begins our morning trip to the grocery store. Daddy is busy trying to catch up with our splashpad adventure stories in the car. We’re hoping to get out to Kanata later this weekend.
(A reader had commented wondering if we had any info on the splash pad at Bandmaster. Not yet, but we will soon!)
At the time of writing, there are a few splash parks in the city that aren’t listed on the city of Ottawa website (or in their open data catalogue), so we decided to check them out on Thursday and add them to our photo gallery.
- The splash pads at Bradley Ridge Park and Diamond Jubilee Park are brand new. They are not on the city website or the open data catalogue.
- The splash pad at Whitehaven Park (George C Brown Park) is listed on the city website, but not in the open data catalogue.
Provence Park Splash Pad (*not new)
Our three year old daughter had a play date at the splash pad at Provence park.
(Provence park is not a new splash pad. It’s on the city website, but for some reason, we haven’t added photos from the water park… even though we’ve been here a couple of times. Daddy is dropping the ball!)
The splash pad at Province is nice: a water cannon to squirt your friends and a tall post with buckets to dump water on you. I like the contrast of the blue circle and the yellow doorway to run through.
“When will you write up the splash pads?” asked our friend as we told her our plan to check out the new splash pads…
Oh, tonight. (Or maybe, in a couple of days.)
[splashpad_headline_card id=484]
Bradley Ridge Splash Pad (*New splash pad)
Next on the list was the splash pad at Bradley Ridge Park.
“You know, you don’t build a new community without building a new park,” observed Mommy.
Sure enough, there is one and it has a splash park.
“They’re building a second park further on but it’s hard to tell if it will have a splash pad.”
Bradley Ridge Park has some fancy cool water structures, but it’s a basic water park. There are two of those green misty leaves which are lots of fun and a blue spinny flower. It’s like a natural oasis in an urban landscape.
[splashpad_headline_card id=657]
Diamond Jubilee Splash Pad (*New splash park in Findlay creek)
The splash pad at Diamond Jubilee park is incredible. It gives the splash pads at Brewer Park and South Nepean a run for its money in terms of size and number of water play structures.
We had a little bit of trouble trying to find it. Our friend said you can see it from the road, but when we googled the map locations, even Google had trouble finding the address – it’s that new.
The new Findlay creek splash pad is located at 2810 Findlay Creek Drive but we’ve entered in the GPS co-ordinates so you can find it on the map easier by clicking this link: VIEW MAP: Diamond Jubilee Splash Pad
A lot of cool new structures that we’ve never seen before:
- A chipmunk and a froggy water gun
- A green turtle with 6 sprinklers on the shell
- A cool red post aqua dome that creates this rippling fabric of water.
- Two cattails and a dumping bucket plus yellow spinny flower
- Another post with a yellow flower that rains down on you.
- The green bull frog spray post.
It’s a natural oasis. One of the things they’ve done well here is have different sections for different kids. Part of the splash pad has little trickling fountains (with the green turtle and red aqua dome), so it’s perfect for quieter kids.
As a new splash pad, the tiny saplings can’t really compete with the established trees at Brewer Park. But all in all, the new water park in Findlay Creek is impressive.
[splashpad_headline_card id=663]
Whitehaven / George C. Brown Splashpad (*New in 2012 – on city website, but not in Open Data catalogue)
The splash park at Whitehaven (George C. Brown) Park is fun.
The grand opening was a year ago (Aug 9, 2012) and from the press release, we learn the the splash pad is a joint project between the Government of Ontario, the City of Ottawa and the Whitehaven Community Association.
It’s neat to get an idea of how much splash pads cost. According to the press release, “the Government of Ontario invested $180,000 to construct the splash pad and the City of Ottawa is providing ongoing operational funding.”
Cool.
Literally. This new splash pad is refreshing on a hot summer day like the one we had when we visited.
- They have a mushroom umbrella water fountain that we’ve never seen before. Points for creativity and uniqueness!
- There’s a little water cyclone that trickles out water on the side. Perfect for little toddlers.
- They have a rainbow with 4 spray loops to run through.
- There are dumping buckets and water fountains.
Okay. Mommy says we’re caught up right now, so it’s time to head out to Kanata to check out some splash pads. The little monkey is stirring so it’s time to run.
Splash pads await us!
[splashpad_headline_card id=661]