In today’s Seattle Council budget committee meeting, during which reduced hours for the Wallingford wading pool were announced, budget director Beth Goldberg made numerous mentions of converting wading pools to spray parks. She talked about the cost savings associated with spray parks — they don’t require lifeguards, for example — and their appeal to a wider age range of kids.

Three Seattle wading pools — Georgetown, Northacres, and Highland Park — are currently in the process of conversion. The funds are from the Parks and Green Space levy that was passed in 2008.

We talked with Parks and Rec Replacement Programs Project Manager Kelly Goold about construction costs for converting wading pools to spray parks. They vary depending on site conditions, but are typically start at $250,000 and average $400,000.

Goold said there are many benefits of a spray park versus a wading pool. Spray parks can expand the range of ages who’ll be interested in using it, and both the operation hours and the operation calendar can be extended. User-activated spray parks don’t have the level of regulation required of standing water pools, and the Parks Dept. doesn’t have to hire a lifeguard.

Tacoma has converted four wading pools to spray parks (which they call “spraygrounds”; photo above), and the parks are open from late May to late September, double the time that Seattle’s wading pools are available.

If this is an option the community wanted to pursue, Goold said, the 2008 levy’s $15 million Opportunity Fund might be a good place to start. The application process is done for this year, but $8 million will be available again in 2012, the Parks Dept.’s Kellee Jones told us.