Maybe it should be handed over to a charitable trust, who could manage it for the benefit of the residents/visitors?
The Heritage Lottery Fund offers grants ranging from £250,000 to £5m under their 'Parks For People' scheme:
http://www.hlf.org.uk/English/HowToApply/OurGrantGivingProgrammes/Parks+for+People/
The 47 acres of fields comprising Eirias Park were purchased by the Council in April 1921. The Rock Gardens and Model Yacht Pond were opened on the 5th July 1930.
Some ideas for Eirias Park:
Rebuild the Pavilion: The original Pavilion (burnt down by vandals in the late 1980s) was situated where the car park area by the bowling greens is now. It contained a cafe, amusements and exhibition space. Rebuild it with a all year round cafe with large glass windows overlooking the Lake, Public Toilets (inside the cafe and maintained by the Leaseholder as part of their lease) and exhibition space for local groups and societies. Demolish the present toilet block and cafe (that's never been open in years) at the top of the hill coming up from the promenade.
Boating Lake: This is getting more neglected every year. I say time to demolish the boathouse, rip out the crumbling concrete sides of the lake and reshape it into a more natural formation, with gravel paths and seats along the edges. Maybe a small island in the middle?
Network of Paths: At present, the paths in Eirias park are a disjointed mess. Time for someone to sit down with a map of the Park and plan out a circular network of paths, enabling people to walk right around the park easily.
Golf Course: I've not seen this open in the last couple of years at all and its pretty much beyond repair now. Time to rip it all out and grass over the tees etc.
Bring back the Stream! - Before the Expressway was built in the 1980s, there was a pleasant stream that ran down a valley, starting from where the Fire Station is on Abergele Road down to the right hand side of the children's playground at the bottom of the park. I say take advantage of the water source and have a small, shallow stream meandering through the park, ending up in a small cascade/waterfall entering the former boating lake.
More Shrubbery & Trees - Let's break up the vast expanse of grass in the park with more planting of native trees and areas of low maintenance shrubbery/perennials. Try and revive the remainder of the once famous Rock Gardens or construct a new one in another area of the park.
Those are just a couple of ideas I've had - please add yours!
How it used to be......
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5 comments:
That's a good blueprint for a revitalised leisure area; the curious thing is that it wouldn't take a great deal of money but it wuld make an enormous difference to what has become a very neglected place over the years. Trouble is, CCBC seem to be convinced that it's not worth doing.
Such a shame to see Erias Park neglected like it has been in recent years.
Spent many an hour navigating my vessel around the boating lake in the long, hot, summer's of the sizzling seventies.
I also remember a cycle track/course, where you could hire bicycles. Had great fun racing my cousin's around the numerous straight's & curves.
Ah yes, you've reminded me of the cycle track! That area is now the car park for the Tennis Centre. Wasn't there also a Crazy Golf type thing there?
Crazy Golf, vaguely remember it. Over by Erias High School?
2014 may see a new start for the boating lake in Eirias Park.
The local model boating pond behind the Civic Offices is being kept free of weeds and algae by using new technology.
It is hoped that during 2014 the same weed controls can be used to eliminate the weeds in the Eirias Park lake too. Once that has been achieved, everything is possible.
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