The Riverside Youth Pop-Up Park is located next to Elma Turner Library on Halifax St.
The park is the result of a collaboration between Nelson City Council and Wakatū Incorporation, which owns the space.
The idea for the park stemmed from the results of Council’s Public Life Survey, which showed of all the measured activities taking place in the city centre, less than two percent included children playing.
The park features a pump track for skaters, bicycles and scooters, a solar-lit basketball court, and an imagination playground for younger children.
The imagination playground is made up of 105 large blue foam building blocks which children can use to make their own play structures, as featured on Netflix’s Abstract series.
There are also be table tennis, planters, picnic tables, youth hammocks and colourful seating. A customised container provides shade and secure storage overnight for the games and equipment. Shade sails have also been installed.
Council is also investigating opening up a new door in the wall of the children’s section of Elma Turner Library that would lead directly into the park.
The park will remain in the Halifax St location for at least two years.
This project is now complete: https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/nelson-top-stories/122750820/creative-and-colourful-popup-park-gets-the-thumbs-up-from-nelson-children
Recent updates to the Youth Pop up Park
Minor upgrades at the Riverside Youth Pop Up Park were completed in June 2024.
The minor refresh of the park includes additional play features for the smaller children’s area including a set of interactive game panels and a painted blackboard on the storage container. Relocating some of the seating and fencing to allow for a more flexible space and direct access to the children’s library.
Additionally, the edge closest to busy Halifax Street is anchored with a colourful bollards, seats and greenery in planters, creating a visual barrier and slowing movement of young participants out towards the street.
Other upgrades include:
- Adding solar powered catenary lighting to the three shade structures
- Refreshing the planting in the existing planter boxes
- Repair to the damaged area of the basketball court
- A new welcoming sign adjacent Halifax Street and re-installation of an artwork from the previous Riverside Murals Walk within the Pop Up Park
- Relocating the refurbished hammock chairs from Upper Trafalgar Street to the pop-up park (new replacement hammock chairs with a civic aesthetic are planned for Upper Trafalgar Street, with relocation occurring after new ones are installed)
