The South Coast’s first splash pad closed for the season this week, leaving some community members wishing it could have stayed open longer.

The seasonal splash pad opened at Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park at 170 S. Kellogg Ave. after years of delays in May, ahead of Memorial Day weekend, and operated through Labor Day weekend.

“Across the board, it has been a great success,” said George Thomson, parks and open space manager for the City of Goleta.

The Old Town Goleta splash pad features 34 ground-level jets that spray water in different patterns, heights and times on a cushioned play surface.

The play surface still will be accessible to the public without the water features, Thomson said.

He encourages parkgoers not to ride bikes or skateboards on it.

Some community members wish it did not close after Labor Day weekend, especially as Santa Barbara County braces for a hot and muggy week.

However, Thomson said it is too early to tell if that could be a reality for the 2027 season.

“It is not up to city staff; City Council really makes the call there,” he said.

Councilman James Kyriaco, who represents the Old Town neighborhood where the park is located, told Noozhawk he plans to push for expanded operations as part of Goleta’s budget next year. 

“The community deserves to have more opportunities to take advantage of this new local gem,” he wrote in an email.

He added that as someone who lives in the neighborhood, he got to see “big gatherings of kids taking advantage of the splash pad all summer long.”

“I could not be happier with the way our Old Town community has embraced the splash pad during its first summer of operation,” he wrote.

It’s also too early to tell how maintenance and operation costs could change for the next season, following an estimate of more than $200,000 for its first year, Noozhawk previously reported.

Splash pad visitor Sophia Uretz said the local weather is usually “nice” into October, and having it open later would “be beneficial” for her and 5-year-old son, Thomas, who have been visiting weekly from Santa Barbara, she told Noozhawk.

Thomas experimented with the laws of physics a couple of days before the splash pad closed, trying to get a jet stream to shoot a small ball into the air.

“He always asks for (the splash pad), and it is a little easier than the beach,” Uretz said. 

She also wished that Santa Barbara would add something similar. 

First-time visitors Spencer Pardee and his 2-year-old daughter, Elowen, of Santa Barbara also played in the splash pad a couple of days before its final day of the season, seeking relief from the hot weather.

“I am surprised by how clean and well-maintained it is, and I know it’s brand new, but I kind of thought half of it might not be working,” Pardee said. 

Like Uretz, he wished the splash pad did not have to close after Labor Day weekend. 

“I think it could go longer; even if it was just for partial days or hours, that would be nice,” he said. 

His 2-year-old daughter was a little hesitant about the water jets at first, he said, and sometimes slipped on the cushioned surface.

“That’s maybe one complaint I have. It is a little slippery,” he said. “It prevents them from running too much, I guess.”

Now that the splash pad isn’t in operation, city staff moved to seasonal maintenance activities. 

Crews still will clean the play area and the pump house, including draining the tank and taking the equipment out and “winterizing it,” Thomson said. 

The water amenity operates seasonally, with opening day expected for Memorial Day weekend next May.