The Village of East Rochester, NY originally developed open space as a park in memory of Edmund Lyon. A splash pad had been part of the park for many years, until it fell into disrepair for the past several years. Through the efforts of the town and Village of East Rochester, grants have been applied for to rebuild this well-used splash pad since 2012. Finally in 2015, a grant was secured, and the project is moving forward, with matching in-kind labor from the Village, to bring an updated splash pad back to this well-known park in the community in the May/June, 2016 time frame. The color rendering represents the spray features that will be included in the new splash pad, by Water Odyssey, designed with the assistance of local MRC park and playground design representative Linda Culliton.
About Edmund Lyon Park:
Edmund Lyon Park was named for Edmund Lyon, an inventor, teacher and philanthropist from Rochester, NY. The park features a World War I monument, which was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1930. Lyon was an inventor; he submitted numerous inventions to the patent office in Washington, and received patents for most of them. Of these, the most notable were a locomotive turntable in which the power of the locomotive itself, operating through the driving wheel, was made to rotate the turntable, and a mechanism for starting automobile engines, eliminating the need for the starting hand-crank. This second device ensured the success of the Northeast Electric Company, which eventually became the Delco Division of General Motors. Out of his experiences and inventive brain, he made a notable contribution with his writing of the Lyon Phonetic Manual for use in promoting the teaching of speech to the deaf. This manual was highly regarded and used widely around the world. Through his work with the deaf, he became close friends with Alexander Graham Bell.
We will follow up on this project once the installation is complete. Stay tuned!