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Wednesday 19 February 2020
Moonlit museum vows
Pages 16-17
Page 5
What our sports stars get paid
Page 21
Playground pop-up for central city Staff Reporter
Opera dazzles under stars More than 6000 people streamed into Trafalgar Park on Saturday night for Opera in the Park. The event attracted some of the country’s top opera singers and contemporary musical talent. With a programme designed by musical director Pete Rainey, contemporary singer/songwriters Jason Kerrison and Tami Neilson joined baritone Joel Amosa, soprano Eliza Boom and tenor Jarod Holt among the evening’s acts. With the evening’s fireworks cancelled due to fire risk the entertainers got the crowd excited with a rendition of ‘Hey Jude’ instead. Photos: Tim Cuff.
A soon-to-be demolished building next to the Elma Turner Library on Halifax Street, will provide space for a new pop-up playground, thanks to a collaboration between Nelson City Council and Wakatū Incorporation. City centre development programme lead Alan Gray says the project came about after council undertook the Public Life Survey, which measured the footfall of different age groups throughout the city. “We found that out of all the activities we measured, less than two percent included children playing. Less than five percent of the people we saw in the city centre were under five-years-old.” The site of the building, which is in the process of being demolished due to seismic issues, was initially earmarked as a carpark but the results from the survey prompted
a rethink about the ways to encourage more children and families into the city. Alan says he wanted to try something different with the site that connects the river with the city and gives children a place to play. The playground, which will start being built in three weeks and be completed by winter, will include a pump track for skaters, bicycles and scooters, a basketball court, and an imagination playground for younger children. The imagination playground includes foam building materials, which children can use to make their own play structures. Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said the new playground is in line with council’s plans to revitalise the city centre and riverside precinct. “I can’t wait to see shooting hoops, racing on the pump track, and imaginations running
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