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An exciting new accessible playground on Napier Hill is now open for play.
A carousel, wheelchair friendly trampoline, seesaw and rope climb are just some of the fun pieces that now make up the new Gleeson Park playground.
A new, improved pathway around the outside will also make it easier for wheelchair users to access the playground.
The playground design, which includes mirrored surfaces, was inspired by Mataruahou, the original Māori name for Napier Hill.
The name originally referred to the mirror images of faces in pools along the tracks over what was, prior to the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake, an “island”, with open sea on the northern side and Te Whanganui A Orotū (Ahuriri estuary) to the south and west.
New seating and plantings complete the redevelopment.
The grassed area of the park remains much the same, allowing for unstructured recreation for all ages, including ball games.
This reserve was one of several small quarry sites on Mataruahou, where stone was taken for ships' ballast, to build retaining walls, and use as road making materials. It was purchased in 1926 from the Gleeson family to provide an open space reserve.
Complete
$200,000
April 2024
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