PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3828, 26 July 1927, Page 33

PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS.

WORK IN THE RESERVES. OPENING NEW DUNEDIN AREAS. IDLE LANDS TRANSFORMED. Though already famous for the beauty of its reserves and recreation areas, Dunedin will have many more public playgrounds in the near future. This year the Reserves Committee has been particularly active in the preparing of various areas of reserved lands for the purpose, and at present, Mr D. Tannock, superintendent of reserves, and his staff, together with bands of workers recruited from the ranks of the unemployed of the city, are devoting tho greater portion of their time to the work. On Friday our representative accompanied Mr Tannock on a tour of inspection of tho works in hand this month. The winter weather, though cold, is proving favourable to tho various schemes, most of which are being pushed ahead steadily, and it is considered that a number will lx; completed by tho beginning of the summer season. “So extensive is tho programme that the work contemplated, together with that at present being carried out, will, when completed, very nearly double the number of properly prepared recreation areas in Dunedin,” said Mr Tannock On the way to the site of the first new recreation area the operations of a number of gangs engaged on improvement work were inspected. At the top of Stafford street, immediately above Maitland street, a large area of the sloping Tace of the Belt is being planted in deciduous trims. Up till recently this face has been somewhat unkempt, and the planting will ultimately lead to an attractive background effect similar to that which charms visitors iu tho vicinity of the Boys’ High School When this work was begun a week or so ago, several of the residents behind the Belt became alarmed lest their panorama of the harbour and the city should be interfered with by the newcomers. It was explained, however, that the planting was to be done low down on the slope. Thus,it will not interfere with the view in any way, and the (cars of the residents uro set at rest. A NEW THOROUGHFARE. At the top of High street a large gang has widened the cable tramway cutting, completing a direct thoroughfare from the city to Mornington. A great deal ot soil and clay has yet to be removed before tho sides of the cutting are sloped at a becoming rngle. When the small mound on the northern side has been cut away, a great deal more sunlight will roach the roadway during the winter months, and the street-line will be levelled. Mr Tannock is in constant touch with the foreman in charge of the work, and his staff intends to plant grass on the slopes of tho cutting when the last lorry-load of soil has been removed.

A week ago the fate of an evergreen oak on top of tho bank hung in the balance. It was the apple of a nearby resident’s eye, and he made a special appeal to the gang, with the result that it will be removed carefully from the portion of the bank marked off for removal, and replanted further back on the reserve. An excellent service is be’ng done for the residents of Harcourt street, on the top side of the Belt In the past, the land has been left, comparatively speaking, to itself, with the exception of a few sections which were set aside and fenced off for use as allotment gardens during the war. These patches still provide economical vegetable plots for enterprising neighbours, and will not be interfered with for the present by the alterations now being made. HARCOURT BLAYING AREA.

The op?n land flanking Harcourt street has for some time been the destination of district rubbish carts which have taken their part in filling up the hollows, but it has remained for the men of the gardens and reserves to tackle the task properly and level off a large portion of the Belt. A suitable playing area for the children of the neighbourhood has now been formed. When sown in glass and equipped with various sininle amusement devices it- will greatly enhance the attractions of the street. On this portion of the Belt there is a rich and heavy deposit of soil, nearly three feet deep in places. This is being removed and carted to Logan Park, where it will serve to top-dress practically the whole of the'main recreation area on the northern side. The Harcourt street area has yet to be filled in at the lower corners, but the clearing and levelling need but little extension. The City Council’s new acquisition— Ellis Park, Kaikorai—is a scene of activity. There, upwards of 30 men from the ranks of the unemployed are levelling, digging, draining, and filling. The new grounds will greatly benefit residents and property values at the southern end of t' e valley, and are nine acres in extent. They adjoin an area already owned by the council, and the addition provides a strip of 30 acres, extending in a belt from the main road to the gully behind. The grounds will be prepared in the form of three terraces, the upper one of which will be used as a hockey ground. The central terrace is practically finished, and will be an Association football ground. The ground yet to be transformed into a suitable Rugby football playing area is

at present being drained. It will be the third of tiK terraces. Below this there is room for future additiois in the form of lawn tennis courts and a bowling green. Although the work has begun less than three weeks ago, it is now well under 'y a y> <ind the cost is moderate, as it is limited to the wages bill for the men. ANOTHER VALLEY IMPROVEMENT. The Kaikorai playground at the terminus of tiie cable tramline has been cleared, and the banks at the southeastern end are being cut back to increase the size of the area. Levelling is also being carried out, and the finished ground will be of great benefit to the district school. _ J o-day, a considerable amount of water is lying on the centre and northern portions of the field because of the low level. /When the work is completed the playground should be nearly doubled in size. During past weeks a great deal of clearing, felling, and stuinpiiiT work has been earned out on the belt at Robin Hood and the road is now flanked bv neat open spaces on which will be planted attracts e deciduous trees.—--. Tree felling has also removed much of the sombre preponderance of wood and evergreen rnowth. °n the area at the top of Arthur street. Ihe inspection was then transferred from tho hills above the city to the flat spaces of Logan Park. There, the bulk of the labour gangs are employed on extensive remodelling and top-dressing work. AT LOGAN PARK. i T ? d ?- y ’ L °S an . Park is an earthy tableland, littered with heaps of splintered timber and seared with countless cart and iory tracks. One Exhibition pavilion remains standing, but all traces of the remainder haye been obliterated by the dig»ing> levelling, and filling of large gangs of men. The main recreation area on the. western side is now ready for tho topdressing material, and the workers are concentrating on the portion to the south-east of the Art Gallery. The old roadway is' being lifted and the heavy rubble is being disposed of. A blank space at tho rear of the Art Gallery has been transformed into a spot of colour and beauty by the formation of a lockery, the constituents of which were obtained from the ruins of the Exhibition fernery. After tho University section of the recreation area has been dealt with, the work of top-dressing will begin, and it may safely be said that th e coining of a new season will witness the opening of many now sections of the park. Tho foundations of the main drive from tho cntraco of the park to the Art Gallery have already appeared, and an avenue of native beech trees has been planted. The paths are now being formed, and tho road formation will be liegim when the work at the far c nd of the park is sufficiently far advanced. WORK IN THE GARDENS. So much for the recreation area work o'f the council’s officers. In the Botanic Gardens, which have been snugged down for the winter, necessary renovation work to plant and outdoor constructions is proceeding apace. A new path has been constructed at the lear of the glasshouses and tho beds are being trimmed, dug, and cleaned out. The grass is short and neat after a recent mowing, and five new rose beds have been dug and planted with various varieties interplanted with carnations. Next month, after the cleaning-up work is ended, pruning will begin in the rose beds. The King street reserve has been cleared of weed and undergrowth at the south-eastern corner, making an open and more attractive area. Inside the glasshouses one or two notewor. improvements have recently been effected. A new and roomy potting shed has been constructed with the object of enabling all this class of work to be carried out indoors and in close proximity to tho various sections of the houses. Glass has been fitted to two sides of the fernery', giving an uninterrupted view of th e interior from the tropical house. The fernery is in really excellent condition, and tho many varieties have, for tho most part, stood up to winter conditions in a perfectly natural way. The fish in the Aquarium section seem happy in their new surroundings, and are growing rapidly.

Though a riot of colour cannot be looked for either out of doors or under glass at this time of the year, there arc some attractive and colourful displays in one or two of the houses. Primulas and cinerarias are in varied masses of reds and yellows, with a sprinkling of other shades. On tho hill three new shrubbery borders have been made, and the gardeners are also working on additions to the Rhododendron Dell.