For the Kids, A Refreshing Summer Treat

Remember when, on hot summer days like the ones that have descended on Central Virginia in recent days, you talked your parents — or grandparents — into letting you and your friends run through the sprinkler watering the grass?

It was great fun as you either tried to escape the cascading water or you stood directly over it for a refreshing, albeit cool, shower.

Youngsters in Lynchburg will soon get a chance to experience such a sprinkler on a grand scale at Riverside Park off Rivermont Avenue. Construction will begin soon on what is being called a sprayground — an aquatic playground that features water raining down from multiple points in jets and sheets.

Water will also shoot up from the ground a various points throughout the watery playground, which will be constructed near the park’s basketball courts as part of a larger “play core” area envisioned in the park’s new master plan.

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City recreation officials and members of the Junior League of Lynchburg broke ground for the project last week. It is expected to be completed by late August or early September.

Give credit to the Junior League for getting the ball rolling on the sprayground. The league first suggested it about three years ago. Emily Davidson, who has spearheaded the project, said the idea came up after the group joined a regional initiative aimed at improving children’s health.

“We thought this would be a great way to get kids out and about, to get them exercising outside and away from the TV,” she said.

The Junior League is contributing $125,000 to the aquatic playground, which has become part of the park’s restoration that began in the past year. Parks and Recreation Director Kay Frazier said the 47-acre park has recently taken in more than $1 million in donations and grants from various agencies and civic groups.

In addition to the sprayground, phase one of the master plan includes a protective shed for the old steam engine in the park and improvements to the playground facilities.

The scenic park, with its valleys and hills overlooking the James River, has several historical exhibits. One of them is the preserved hull of the old packet boat that transported the body of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from Lynchburg to Lexington by way of the James River in 1863.

Recreation officials hope the new attention to the park will encourage greater use of it. “We want people to be in this park,” said Frazier. “We want them to enjoy it and bring their kids and have a great time.”

That’s what the Junior League is hoping for, as well. Readers will recall that the league was the lead organization that inspired interest in the downtown children’s museum, which has become Amazement Square at the foot of Ninth Street. The organization has a great track record for committing its resources and individual energy toward projects designed to improve the lives of children in Lynchburg and surrounding counties. 

The sprayground at Riverside Park is another one of those projects. It will provide entertainment and a chance to cool off for many hot summers to come in Lynchburg. Turn on the sprinklers.