Senator Sean Ryan Secures $800,000 To Create New Splash Pad At Riverside Park

BUFFALO – Today, May 30, 2025, as splash pads across the City of Buffalo open for the season, New York State Senator Sean Ryan announced he has secured $800,000 in state funding to support the installation of a splash pad at Riverside Park. He was joined by North District Councilmember Joe Golombek and Catie Stephenson, Executive Director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, as well as members of the Black Rock Riverside Alliance and Rediscover Riverside, who were instrumental in planning the splash pad.

The new splash pad will be located next to the park’s playground, near the intersection of Tonawanda Street and Crowley Avenue. The money from the state grant will fund the removal of the park’s wading pool and the installation of a splash pad in its place. The splash pad is expected to open in the summer of 2026.

The installation of the splash pad will be the culmination of years of action by community activists who spent years advocating for a splash pad to replace the wading pool, which has not been opened in over five years. The splash pad was originally slated to be built using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. However, after several years of inaction by the City of Buffalo, the City reallocated the project’s funding in December 2024. With the project in danger of being canceled, Senator Ryan coordinated with the Black Rock Riverside Alliance and Rediscover Riverside to determine what it would take to get the project back on track, and secured the $800,000 grant from New York State to ensure it could go forward as planned.

Senator Sean Ryan said, “Children in every neighborhood deserve safe, fun, and free outdoor spaces to play with friends and get exercise. Our Olmsted parks are an incredible asset to Buffalo’s neighborhoods, but we need to keep investing in them to make sure they meet our changing needs. I was proud to help fill this funding gap and ensure that kids in Riverside and Black Rock will finally get the splash pad the community has worked so hard to make a reality.”