A total of 421 people passed through the gates of Splash Baldwin last Saturday, marking one of the biggest days yet for the 8-week-old water park.
Now, with the new school year right around the corner, the park is preparing to transition to “Saturdays and Sundays only,” beginning after the first weekend in August. Meanwhile, the tentative last day of the season is Sunday, Sept. 7 .
Park officials don’t have a way of tracking exactly where visitors are coming from; however, a quick walk around the parking is enough to know that Splash Baldwin is becoming a regional draw.
“Lots of out-of-county license plates: Houston, Bibb, Jackson, Putnam. All over this area, really,” said Charles Trumbo, a county management analyst for the Baldwin County government. “Obviously, that’s great, because that’s revenue coming into Baldwin County.”
Trumbo said the feedback from Splash Baldwin patrons “has been about 85-90 percent positive.” The negative feedback centers around some of the park’s niche rules, mainly the “no outside food and drink rule.” That’s been the biggest one. To a lesser extent, there has been some griping about the “no bluetooth speaker policy,” designed to cut down on noise pollution.
Also, the “no outside pool toys or life vests” rule has been met from some pushback. Splash Baldwin has actually modified this rule, allowing toddlers and smaller children to bring in life jackets. The original plan was to provide life jackets for patrons who wanted them, but that was ultimately scrapped from the budget.
The deepest water at Splash Baldwin is four feet, which has made it easier to find enough lifeguards, which isn’t always the case for municipal pools and parks around Georgia. The shallower the water, the less requirements and training or lifeguards. This is why the water park in Dublin recently filled in the deeper parts of its water park.
“We started with 19 lifeguards, and now we’re down to eight or nine,” Trumbo said. “The ones who are still with us are doing great and love their job. Just this past weekend, a lady told us how much she appreciated how our lifeguards were friendly with the kids and engaging with the kids and not yelling at them and blowing their whistle every five seconds, which happens at other parks sometimes.”
Meanwhile, two park patrons, both elderly, have passed out at the park this summer and required medical attention. Trumbo encourages patrons to keep an eye on their elderly relatives who are tagging along for the day.
A pair of Georgia College & State University students hopped the fence after hours and “went down the slide a few times,” according to Trumbo. That was the only report of trespassing and/ or vandalism, Trumbo added.
“Everything’s on the up and up,” Trumbo said. “It’s been a great summer, and we’re just looking forward to finishing strong.”