RAILWAYS NURSERY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22611, 26 December 1936, Page 11

RAILWAYS NURSERY

NEW WELLINGTON STATION MINDING PATRONS* BABIES A nursery where children may be left in charge of a matron while their parents are waiting for trains or shopping in the city promises to be an appreciated feature of the new Wellington railway station. This is an innovation for New Zealand, although it is an adjunct to railway facilities in overseas cities. Russia has developed the idea elaborately, and it is also successful at Flinders Street station, Melbourne. Believing that a playroom and nursery would fill a need, the department decided to incorporate one in the plan of the station. It was also thought that an amenity of this kind should encourage business. Knowing that there was a place at which children could be left with safety and under sympathetic supervision, parents would doubtless not hesitate to make the trip to town from the suburbs —by train, rail-car, or railway bus—and thereby swell the department's revenues. The nursery and playroom will be on the roof of the station, where there is sunshine and fresh air. The playroom «ill be spacious and its walls will be decorated with representations of characters from nursery rhymes and story books. Toys in abundance will provide amusement. Two sleeping rooms with cots are planned for babies and very small children. Out on the roof the older ones will play in the sun, where they can look down on the city from behind the protection of wire netting. A kitchen will facilitate the preparation of simple meals by the matron. It is proposed to make a nominal charge for the use of the nursery, probably at so much an hour, if parents can afford to pay.