Wil-O-Way Facilities Get New Splashpads

Milwaukee County Parks Splash pad. Photo by Milwaukee County Parks.

The county is funding new splash pads for facilities that provide recreational opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Milwaukee County Parks operates two Wil-O-Way facilities — one located in Grant Park in South Milwaukee and the other near the county grounds in Wauwatosa — that host recreational programs for adults and summer camps for children. The county plans to convert existing wading pools at both facilities into splash pads, which are more accessible and cheaper to operate.

The wading pools don’t offer great shade, and they are difficult for persons with physical disabilities to use. Splash pads employ a series of sprinklers and fountains to create a water feature with nearly no standing water, making them accessible to persons using wheelchairs, which will help them “feel more included as they would be able to play with their peers in this type of water feature better than a wading pool,” as Mike Bonk, director of the county’s Aging and Disabilities Services, explained two years ago when the county began considering the projects.

Each wading pool to splash pad conversion is expected to cost approximately $908,000. The county already began planning the new facilities in 2024.

Splash pads also do not require the staffing that wading pools do. The water does not need to be treated, nor are there any complicated filtration systems that need to be maintained. All the water empties directly into the storm water system, as opposed to being recirculated.

In the face of seasonal staffing challenges, and limited funding, the county has begun converting wading pools to splash pads in other parks, as well. The parks department has struggled to staff enough lifeguards to open every pool it operates for nearly five years. The system was already struggling against a general nationwide decline in lifeguards prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the lifeguarding ranks cratered after the onset of the pandemic, as certifications lapsed and potential lifeguards sought other jobs.

The Wil-O-Way facilities are also rented out for events by the county, and adding the splash pads would allow the county to market them as ready and available without the need for wading pool attendants, as the most recent county budget explained.

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