Marcelle Daley, 5, couldn’t wait for the water jets to be turned on at the opening Saturday of the city’s new Splash Pad.
When they erupted, Marcelle ran wild at the 2,100-square-foot wet zone, taking aim with nozzles and sprays and running through water rings.
“You wouldn’t know it, but when he as 2 he was afraid of water,” said his grandmother Buffy Tarver, 47, of Leesburg, who also brought Marcelle’s brother, Malachi, 13 months. It’s the latest splash fun spot to open in Central Florida. In Lake County, Tavares, Clermont and Eustis have similar water playgrounds.
Tarver said the Splash Pad — site adjacent to the Kids Korner playground in Rogers Park off Dixie Avenue — will get plenty of use from her grandkids.
“Who is going to be paying for this water?” Tarver laughed.
Mayor Bob Bone joined in the fun, entering the Splash Pad to wait for a big bucket of water to fill and tumble on him a group of children waiting eagerly with him.
“I hope you bring your kids and grandkids for many years to come,” Bone said of the city’s newest amenity, which cost about $425,000 and has a capacity of 63 water-worshiping youngsters.
jfallstrom@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5916.