At a workshop yesterday, Dunedin city councillors were given a design update on the multimillion-dollar destination playground upgrade to St Kilda’s Marlow Park, including ‘‘the big, burning issue of the dinosaur slide’’, project manager Dr Glen Hazelton said.
Two options on the slide’s future were presented for discussion: upgrade and incorporate it into the new park or replace it entirely with a new, inclusive dinosaur slide.
Cr Andrew Simms spoke ‘‘in defence of the dinosaur’’, saying he remembered queuing to play on the slide when it opened in the late 1960s.
‘‘When I took my children back 50 years later, [the dinosaur slide] was still the highlight of the park,’’ Cr Simms said.
‘‘The park is known to my children as the Dinosaur Park. I’m very cautious about dispensing with it altogether.’’
Deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said the dinosaur slide was a point of difference, ‘‘distinctly Dunedin’’ and should be retained.
‘‘Even though the dinosaur might be old and all that, I love that we’re different from anything else.’’
Dr Hazelton said testing indicated the dinosaur’s condition was ‘‘not great’’.
While it was probably salvageable, the council should consider how much it was willing to spend remediating existing equipment as opposed to purchasing new equipment, he said.
A detailed park design, developed with a contractor, would be presented to councillors for final approval.
Councillors discussed another of the park’s zoological features: the concrete whale which once served as centrepiece of a since-removed paddling pool.
Dr Hazelton said this was also in poor structural condition — ‘‘the tail has come off a couple of times already’’ — and the current design proposed replacing it with a new, larger whale with more play opportunities.
City services manager Scott MacLean said during consultation on the council’s play spaces plan several years ago, it was largely adults who wanted the park’s ‘‘iconic features’’ retained.
The overwhelming theme from children was ‘‘we want new stuff like our parents and our grandparents got to experience’’, Mr MacLean said.
The council has budgeted $4.6 million in the coming financial year for procurement and construction of the destination playground.
The current design splits play equipment across several areas — including climbing, swings and slides — with spaces for specialist activities such as parkour, a permanent pump track and water and nature play.
Space for food trucks and a picnic area is also included.
A cultural narrative for the park, developed by Aukaha, explores navigation through the Pacific to Aotearoa.
Subject to council approval, staff would develop a fundraising plan to grow the budget and allow for the purchase of more equipment through business and community sponsorship.
Dr Hazelton said it was likely the park would be closed for construction during the coming Christmas period, and it was expected to have reopened by the following summer.
