In response to questions from City Councilors about the proposal at a recent Land Use Committee meeting, Parks, Rec and Culture Commissioner Bob DeRebuis has written a letter endorsing Northland’s proposal to build a splash/spray park and explaining why he does not support a skating rink. While praising the health and developmental benefits for young children he also notes that Waltham has nine splash parks and Brookline has 14, with one more under construction.
Before this proposal proceeds further, in order to minimize any deleterious environmental and water resources impacts associated with the use, reuse, and disposal of splash/spray park water, the City of Newton and Parks & Rec Commission should first require the developer’s commitment to alternatives such as recirculating the splash/spray park water, storing the water in a tank underground and allowing it to percolate back into the groundwater, or reusing the water for either subsurface or above ground irrigation.
My kids are past spraypark age but who really cares about how many spray parks our neighbors have. It’s a trend. Seems like the ice rink idea is going the way of our fields and playgrounds…the city unable to fund maintenance.
A thoughtful response by the Commissioner, in my view.
I completely agree with the Commissioner. The need for cool community summer play areas is big and will only grow as summers warm.
Spray parks and splash pads can be smaller and distributed throughout the city (rather than concentrated in one or two locations like pools).
They fit the needs of families with a kids of a range of ages, especially when they are near other play structures and recreational facilities. You don’t need to be able to swim, and water is always cool no matter what your age.
Combined with misters, they are pleasant to be around even if you’re not actively splashing, which is nice for adults. They complement green space.
In communities around us, the nice ones are heavily used. For that reason, they are a trend.
The larger aquatics picture is this: we have one of the most popular and successful swim programs in the state. Newton North is overbooked. We need another all-weather facility for competitive and recreational (laps) swim.
We also need purely recreational (splash, play) seasonal aquatics. DCR Connors pool is a good example. It would be a great amenity for a large development, I would think. Splash parks, spray pads, and other water features make up some of this need.
I’m a little sad about the ice rink. People do use these pocket rinks in other locations. Perhaps the developer could maintain like they do (I believe) in Kendall Square?
Newton has a great commitment to open space parks. We need to make the same commitment to revitalize our neighborhood and community parks, playgrounds, and school fields. This is a focused item that could be the basis for an override.
@Mike, vastly improved parks and recreation is probably the one thing I could get excited about paying more taxes for. I prefer a debt exclusion that will pay for the capital costs rather than a permanent increase in the tax rate in perpetuity. Some local politicians like Bill Humphrey and Michael Miller are starting to the float the override balloon, and I’d be interested to see what others running for office think about that.
Laurie, I agree with your points, but will add one. Parks needs capital investment in no small part because we’ve skimped on our civic responsibility to pay for maintenance for at least a decade.
An override should be accompanied by a commitment to an increased maintenance budget, in line with what other “good steward” communities spend.
Being behind the curve does have its advantages, though. We could revamp our parks using best practices of sustainability and planning for climate change. We can improve the streetscape outside of our parks to make them safer and more walkable/bikeable. We can think things through citywide with clearer vision than if we had one it incrementally.
Garden City. Prove it.