City Center Park

"Great place to take smaller children but but older children need to be supervised at all times or at least have an attendant on the premises."

"Parents are not supervising children.. especially pre-teens who are using playground equipment in unsafe ways. My toddler daughter was injured due to multiple older children curling up and hiding in the slide. She tried to go down and couldn’t see them and she ran into one of the kids. Now she has a cut under her eye and a knot on her head. I asked the child to take me to his parents so that I could let them know about the behavior and he refused and continued to climb on top of the slides, speed past very small kids, and wrestle other older children. There was no one on sight to help address this. We also went to the bathroom and there was sand stuffed in the sink with paper towels and the water running. Also heard a parent who was letting his small child play in the sand tell her that she “needed to rinse the sand off in the water before she can get in the car to go home.” The city knows there are issues but has not taken prompt action to address it. I appreciate that this is a free option for a lot of families, but this is in the wilder community and has been overrun by neighboring areas and people who are not respecting this resource. This park is not safe for small children anymore due to its increased popularity. I am deeply disappointed in our experience at this park and I’d recommend going elsewhere until the issues are addressed. EDITED TO ADD: tried to give it a shot for 2023 and in the thirty minutes we were there I watched several kids climbing recklessly in playground equipment, pouring big buckets of water down a slide (making it too dangerous for kids to actually go down), blocking the drains so that the water is not recycled properly, and general overcrowding.. Such a good idea in theory, but you watch several kids get hurt every time you go, it isn’t worth the risk when it could be prevented. Wilder should consider charging a small fee and gating it. I’d rather pay to ensure the safety of the children than put them at risk every time they do. Additionally, other cities could help the overcrowding problem by establishing more splash parks- just one day at City Center park proves the demand is there."

"I wish it was a little more fenced in"

"It's a little small but has everything we need. An area for the big kids and little kids. When we went the water park wasn't open but it's open now."