That’s the wading pool at EC Hughes Playground. When Seattle Parks wading pools start opening for the season tomorrow (Saturday, June 22), it won’t be ready to go. We discovered this while checking the Parks pool-info page – “E.C. Hughes Playground wading pool is closed for repairs.” No explanation, and our subsequent visit to the park (2805 SW Holden) didn’t show anything obviously wrong with the pool, but we did see evidence of some water-related work elsewhere in the park, and Parks spokesperson Christina Hirsch tells us that’s related:

Our Facilities crews are addressing a pipe issue at this location. We replaced a substantial section of the waterline and when we re-energized the system another section failed. We are currently working with a contractor to replace another hundred feet of mainline using vertical boring to avoid a large excavation on the site. We hope to have a schedule for that work next week. Once we get that complete, barring any other issues, we should be able to open things up rapidly.

So for the start of the season, West Seattle will have three wading pools:

–Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW), daily starting Saturday, noon-7 pm, last day September 2
–Delridge (4501 Delridge Way SW), Wednesdays-Thursdays-Fridays, noon-5:30 pm, June 26-August 16
–Hiawatha (2700 California SW), Thursdays-Fridays-Saturdays, noon-5:30 pm, June 27-August 17

(When EC Hughes does open, its scheduled open days are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays.) Remember that on cooler days (below 70) the pools generally don’t open; you can check the status every morning by calling 206-684-7796 (recorded info updated by 9:30 am), and we also include wading-pool info in our daily “what’s happening” lists.

P.S. Highland Park Spraypark is already open and continues daily operation, 11 am-8 pm, at 1100 SW Cloverdale, through September 2.