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First, people were unclear about where they could park their cars at Lansdowne Park. Now, it’s unclear where their kids can splash around.

Barely a week after a new water plaza opened in the urban park, signs posted by the City of Ottawa last Friday appear to place part of the plaza off-limits for play.

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The four signs seem unambiguous. Using directional arrows for emphasis, they admonish visitors to steer clear of the portions of the water plaza near Uplift, artist Jill Anholt’s granite and brushed stainless steel sculpture.

“Jill Anholt artwork,” they read. “Please stay off.”

They also use words and arrows to indicate the area of the water plaza where play is permitted.

Based on the signs’ placement, that would seem to exclude eight of 55 water jets designed to encourage play by children and adults as well as a lower pool where “visitors can sit and cool their feet,” as the city stated in a July 25 press release announcing the new water plaza.