By ETHAN SHOREY
The Johnston splash pad, which opened last year, does the trick in keeping children and families cool, but it could definitely use some future additions.
My family loves to compare and contrast public facilities for various communities, and we often find a wide disparity in offerings.
For example, the splash pad in Woonsocket is a destination type of spot that you’ll go back to again and again. Johnston? It didn’t take long for us or the families we went with to be bored and done.
I’ve long made this point about everything from stadiums to public parks. Too much focus on dollars and cents when it comes to taxpayer funds leads to lesser amenities and pushes people elsewhere, whether to other communities in Rhode Island or to neighboring Massachusetts or Connecticut. In other words, you get what you pay for.
I get that some of the difference comes because certain communities get more grant dollars or federal money, but with the amount of money wasted each year, we can certainly do better.
