In celebration of the last day of school in the City of Buffalo, its splash pads are open until 7p.m. Friday. The water playgrounds, especially the city’s newest one in Martin Luther King Park recently garnered a lot of community concern, because they were only opened on the weekends.
Mayor Byron Brown said this was to make sure kids were in school during the week at not at the splash
parks.
“We want to make sure that children are not missing school… that they’re in school so they can learn,” said Brown.
City residents also expressed concern that the Martin Luther King Park wasn’t open late enough for people to see the lights that go along with the water playground. Brown said the splash pads are only open until 7p.m. to ensure everyone is safe and so there aren’t any security issues.
“For the lights to have their full effect the water has to be on, if the water is on after 7p.m. when the splash pad closes that is going to attract and encourage people to come into the splash pad after hours, which poses staffing issues and it adds to the potential cost and public safety concerns for residents and taxpayers,” said Brown.
Brown added Buffalo’s splash pads in will be open late when there are special events happening in the city. The splash parks will be open seven days a week starting Saturday at 11a.m. until 7p.m. through the Labor Day holiday.