This story was first published in the July/August edition of inspire magazine. 

By Rumer-Grace Archer, Opus International Consultants. 

Avalon Park’s transformation story began in 2009, when the proposed demolition of the existing derelict timber fort triggered community uproar.

The iconic structure, which stood on a concrete peninsula in a duck pond, had been popular with local children for thirty years despite its degraded condition and incompatibility with modern health and safety standards.

The community’s reaction sparked the beginning of a partnership between Hutt City Council and Opus International Consultants to revive the park and create a destination that could hold generations of memories, even without the fort.

Located in the suburb of Avalon in Lower Hutt, a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand, Avalon Park is a 6 ha site owned and managed by Hutt City Council. Since opening in 1963, Avalon Park has been known for its stimulating range of play equipment including a model train track, a learner’s cycle track, a mini golf course and a timber fort and duck pond.

Because many of the park’s facilities were out of date and in poor condition by 2009, Hutt City Council prepared a reserve management plan that aimed to explore all functions of the park and identify its possibilities for the future as a key community asset.

The public played a significant role in the planning phase of the park and the council discovered quite quickly the potential for it to be a regionally significant destination. With the community’s input, Hutt City Council decided on the vision to build an iconic and premier park with a focus on play.

Innovation 

The Hutt City Council were determined to provide the best possible play environment, ensuring the social, physical and cognitive developmental needs of children were catered for. A competitive process was set up to identify the consultants that could bring the Hutt City Council’s vision to life. As one of these consultants, Opus helped develop the innovative design of the playground including the bespoke interactive water features, and the ‘helix’ climbing structure that unifies the central play area.

Development 

The project was conceived as three distinct stages of transformation. The development of stage one and two, including the creation of pathways, carparks, and the play area, proved to be a long and challenging process. Hutt City Council praised the Opus team and their ability to stay professional and retain integrity in the face of public scrutiny and comment. Once the stage two developments were underway, feedback became overwhelmingly positive, a distinct change from the initial reaction to the proposal to remove the old timber fort. Stage three will create a new main entrance to the park and revive the model boating pond and surrounding environment.

Feedback 

In October 2016, hundreds of children and their families attended the opening of Avalon Park and it has been incredibly popular every day since then. Hutt City Council continues to receive positive feedback from the public, with the general theme being that the facility greatly exceeds community expectations. The park was praised by Hutt City Council’s parks and gardens divisional manager, Bruce Hodgins, who called it a “premier playground.” One Hutt City Resident reaffirmed the council’s belief in the new park being able to hold generations of memories: “And just as I fondly recall my own childhood visits to the old Avalon Park, I know from the many visits we will be doing in the future, so will my children.”