From Asphalt to Activation
Urban parks are increasingly being asked to do more than provide green space. They’re expected to restore ecology, reflect local culture, invite participation, and serve as social condensers for entire communities. Gatton Park on the Town Branch in Lexington, KY, is a strong example of how water—when thoughtfully designed and carefully engineered—can do all of that at once.
By Sylvia Bucklew
Completed in 2025, Gatton Park is an 11-acre community destination built on the site of a former asphalt parking lot in downtown Lexington. Designed by the international architecture and design firm, Sasaki, with input from more than 16,000 residents, the park emphasizes inclusivity, sustainability, and connection to place.
The project restores Town Branch Creek, incorporates native plantings and historic stonework, manages stormwater on site, and provides a multi-modal loop path, playgrounds, and gathering spaces capable of hosting events for up to 5,000 people.
Within that larger vision, our firm, Fountain People was engaged to design and deliver one of the park’s signature elements: an interactive playground water feature that introduces water in the upper plaza, carries it visibly and playfully through the site, and culminates in a dynamic fountain display in the lower plaza.
The result is a one-of-a-kind watershape that blends naturalistic flow with user-activated technology and robust, behind-the-scenes infrastructure.
A Visible Journey of Water
Rather than treating water as a single destination feature, the design allows visitors to follow its journey. Water is first introduced in the upper plaza through a ballast fitting and a non-pressurized Winder hand pump paired with a water seesaw. The ballast fitting is activated by a nearby foot-operated stainless steel bollard, discreetly integrated into artificial rockwork so that controls are intuitive without being visually intrusive.
From there, water flows through a rocky canal, where it can either return to a lower basin or continue into the main interactive channel. Along the way, additional water is introduced through a sequence of hands-on elements, including an Archimedes Screw, multiple non-pressurized Winder pumps, a tray system with a water mill and trough, and a Newton Water Playset. A Farm Pump—also non-pressurized and hand-operated—draws water directly from the reservoir and feeds a flooded rock feature, which is activated by another foot bollard.
These elements are deliberately tactile and mechanical. Users don’t just see water; they move it, lift it, divert it, and send it downstream. The experience feels exploratory and educational, reinforcing the park’s emphasis on discovery and engagement across age groups.
As water moves through the system, it is collected by channel sump drains located in both the main plaza and the lower plaza. In total, two channel sumps capture the flow and redirect it back to an underground holding tank, completing the loop and preparing the water for recirculation.
Fountain-in-a-Can
In the lower plaza, the water feature resolves into a more theatrical expression. Six flush-mounted Fountain-in-a-Can (FIAC) display jets create a vertical cluster spray effect with a maximum height of five feet. Each jet is housed in a flush can assembly and equipped with programmable HydroValves, allowing for random on/off patterns or coordinated “chasing” sequences that add energy and variation to the display.
Integrated ring-style LED fixtures with RGBW diodes provide illumination, transforming the jets into a vibrant nighttime feature. Like the upstream ballast fittings, these display jets are also activated by foot-operated bollards, giving visitors direct control over when the fountain comes to life.
The result is a space that shifts naturally from daytime play to evening spectacle, without ever feeling over-programmed.
Engineering That Supports the Experience
While the visible experience is playful and intuitive, the system behind it is anything but simple. All water is recirculated and treated to meet local health department standards for interactive water features.
Pump equipment is housed in a below-ground vault with an access hatch concealed within adjacent landscaping. The vault contains a 5-horsepower XF display pump and a 2-horsepower WF filter pump. Water is drawn from the underground reservoir and directed to an above-grade equipment room, where filtration, treatment, and controls are centralized.
Inside the equipment room, the system includes dedicated equipment skids with strainers for both the Fountain-in-a-Can jets and the interactive channel features, a sand filtration skid, a fill manifold, and a UL-listed electrical control panel. Water quality is continuously monitored by a PH/ORP treatment system that manages sanitizer levels in compliance with interactive play standards.
Sensor probes located in the underground reservoir automatically manage water levels, adding make-up water as needed and shutting the system down under low-water conditions. High-water alerts notify maintenance staff so excess water can be manually drained when necessary. These safeguards ensure reliability, efficiency, and consistent water quality—critical factors for a feature that sees heavy public use.
Collaboration and Craft
The playground water feature at Town Branch Park is the product of close collaboration among designers, manufacturers, and installers. Fountain People provided design services, interactive fountain components, and the filtration and control systems that make the feature possible. Installation was performed by Aqua Underground, whose work ensured that the complex network of channels, pumps, and underground infrastructure performed as intended.
It’s also worth noting that, aside from the Fountain-in-a-Can elements, the other interactive play features were Goric products supplied by others, underscoring the integrated nature of the project and the importance of coordination across multiple vendors.
A New Kind of Urban Watershape
At Gatton Park, water is a connective element that links plazas, invites physical engagement, and reinforces the park’s broader mission of inclusivity and sustainability. By combining user-activated controls, naturalistic flow paths, dramatic fountain effects, and a robust recirculation and treatment system, the Town Branch Park water feature demonstrates how contemporary watershapes can be both playful and precise.
What was once an expanse of asphalt is now a living, moving landscape—one where water is not just seen, but experienced, shaped, and shared by the community it serves.
Sylvia Bucklew is a marketing professional with seven years of experience in the aquatic play equipment manufacturing industry. She has played a key role in showcasing innovative aquatic play projects and supporting projects that bring interactive, inclusive aquatic experiences to communities, resorts, and recreation centers. She is currently the Marketing Manager at AquaWorx | Fountain People | Water Odyssey and can be reached at Sylvia.Bucklew@aquaworxusa.com.
Photos courtesy Gatton Park on the Town Branch.