Who better than children to help with the redesign of a city playground? The Pomona St playground in South City has reopened to the public with new and innovative features never before seen at an Invercargill playground. It was officially unveiled at an opening ceremony on Wednesday, following nearly four months of construction. Invercargill City Council play advocate Dr Damien Puddle, know as “Dr Play”, said in a statement nearby schools were involved in designing the playground. “The entire design of the playground is based on community engagement and school involvement, which is something we’ve never done before,” he said. Dr Puddle hoped it would represent “a new approach to maintaining and refreshing play spaces in the city”. “Rather than spreading our limited resources thinly across many sites with small, piecemeal fixes, we’ve decided to target entire playgrounds to upgrade.” He said the close collaboration with the community had allowed them to “incorporate more inclusive play opportunities and make innovative choices, while being more cost effective”. [Missing Credit]Students from Newfield Park School try out the newly refurbished Pomona St Playground. Photo: SUPPLIED Construction cost just over $100,000 and Dr Puddle said it was satisfying to see things completed so quickly. “Pomona St Playground is a small park but it’s such a huge asset to this neighbourhood and to the city.” — Allied Media
