Drew Park Splash Pad and Fountain — Attraction in Columbia

The splash park and playground are nice, we visited several times over the past summer, but the members of the community often allow their children to play unattended. Additionally, the splash park attendants (usually older teens, possibly young adults, most likely employed by parks and recreation) are not as vigilant and proactive as they should be to manage a group of unsupervised children. Children at the park usually range from toddler to preteen; my daughter who was 3yo at the time had a very bad collision with another little girl who might have been around 7 or 8yo. "NO RUNNING" is printed on the ground of the splash park but this little girl ran almost the entire time she was there, even after she ran into my daughter she continued to run. Her father was there but he was asleep on the park bench up until the time his daughter ran into mine and when he realized what had happened, he attempted to make light of the situation and engage me in conversation after I ran out into the water and picked my daughter up. My daughter left the park that day scrapped and buised and told me that she's afraid to go back; we haven't...

I took my niece here, and she really enjoyed herself. I took her during a less busy time, so I felt more relaxed. There were two city of Columbia staff members on site, which was a huge plus for me. The splash pad was clean and the staff were there to remind the children not to run for safety reasons. I would recommend bringing a outdoor folding chair to watch your child, because there are only two benches that are too far away to keep a close eye...

My baby girl just wanted to play in the water. The pad is supposed to operate from noon until 8pm but when we arrived the gates were still locked. I had to call to see if it would open. The reply I got was, " He is moving into his apartment(unclear)" and that the pad should be open in the next hour. Im assuming "he" would be the lifeguard that was to be on duty. In cases Like this, there should be an...