The Dunedin City Council unveiled its new design for the botanic garden playground yesterday, it’s "biggest overhaul" since it opened nearly 40 years ago.
The existing playground was a gift of Perpetual Guardian — formerly the Perpetual Trust — in the mid-1980s.
A council spokesman said the total budget for the project was $600,000.
The cost includes a $100,000 contribution from the Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden.
The overall design also incorporated wider spaces to enable a more inclusive environment and featured upgraded safety provisions, new soft-fall surfacing, new seating and an improved picnic area, he said.
Work on the playground was expected to take place between next Monday and September 28 — with the intention to open in time for the next school holidays.
The Otago Daily Times visited the existing playground at the gardens yesterday and asked Dunedin families their thoughts on the new design.
Kirsty Robertson said she had been bringing her 5-year-old daughter Morgan to the playground since she was a baby.
An overhaul of the playground had been "a long time coming" and was a "great investment", she said.
Louise Mcintosh said she visited the playground with her 8-year-old granddaughter but used to bring her own children there.
There were not many areas you could go with children to play, and a revamp would be "nice for Dunedin".
Keira Goodman, 8, said she enjoyed using the flying fox at the playground, but the facility could do with some monkey bars.
Henrik Moller said the botanic garden was the "greatest asset of Dunedin for families".
The existing playground was good and the swings were designed beautifully for children, but it could always be improved, he said.
Council arts, culture and recreation general manager Jeanette Wikaira said the overhaul would be a "significant rejuvenation" of an area that had brought much joy.
The current equipment would be removed, reassessed and potentially refurbished to be used elsewhere in the city, she said.
The council worked with mana whenua to develop playground designs inspired by the legend of Mahuika and Māui, the spokesman said.
Illustrations of native flora and fauna that inhabited the forest floor specific to Otago would also be embedded in the playground, weaving through the narrative of how Māui brought fire to the world.
