WHERE: Byerly Park Recreation Complex, 700 Russell Road, Hartsville, SC
WHEN: Thursday, July 4, 2013, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Piratesville Splash Pad, a multi-featured water play area designed for children, will stage its grand opening Thursday, July 4 at 11 a.m. at the Byerly Park Recreation Complex.
The splash pad, long planned as an addition to the athletic and recreational facilities at Byerly Park, offers a variety of pirate-themed water play features – fountains, geysers, slides, dumping buckets and more – and has no pools of standing water.
Measuring more than 5,100 square feet, the facility requires about 150 to 170 gallons of water to be pumped through it every minute as its features spray, splash and dump water.
For opening day, splash pad staff will offer fun pirate giveaways for children such as bandanas and eye patches, while supplies last.
A pirate ship at the splash pad doubling as a water slide was the subject of a write-in contest in which children were invited to think up a name for the ship. Mattie Buchner, age 5, won with the submission “Jolly Hart,” a name now being placed on the boat. He will be the recipient of a season pass for Piratesville’s first summer.
Piratesville will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays, and will be closed on Mondays.
Tickets must be purchased for children 16 and younger, with accompanying individuals 17 and over admitted free with these tickets. Daily tickets for Piratesville are available for purchase at the splash pad for $3. Season passes may be bought at Byerly Park’s Coach T.B. Thomas Sports Center at 701 W. Washington St. during normal hours of operation, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The passes cost $15 for City of Hartsville residents and $20 for non-city residents. City residency may be verified with a driver’s license or photo ID card with an in-city address and a copy of a recent bill to the same address.
Rentals of the splash pad are also available for private parties before and after normal operating hours, booked at least 10 days in advance through the Coach T.B. Thomas Sports Center. For parties of less than 50 people, rentals cost $60 an hour for city residents and $80 an hour for non-residents.
More information on splash pad operations, rules and pricing is available on the City of Hartsville website or by calling the Coach T.B. Thomas Sports Center at (843) 339-2878.
