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251:. In fact the area was actually comparatively empty of buildings, only 14 buildings were standing on eight acres of land and 12 of those were very tiny cottages. The site was ideal simply because there were so few buildings to clear from the site, all of which were sold for relocation by the City Council Works Department.
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Of late, the park has attracted a certain degree of notoriety due to a spate of unsavory incidents. A number of campaigns have begun to raise the profile and safety of the park with the intention that it recaptures its original charm and once again becomes a place for friends, families, and visitors
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The official opening of Myers Park by Mayor
Christopher Parr was on 28 January 1915. The New Zealand Herald from 29 January 1915 reported that a large crowd turned up for the opening including hundreds of children. This must have pleased Arthur Myers as the park was focused on children with the plans
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Myers' brother
Leopold (chair of the Auckland Electric Tram Company) had married an American woman, Martha Washington Shainwald, who had been involved in the kindergarten movement in San Francisco. She and Arthur Myers carefully oversaw the creation of the Kindergarten Building and specified certain
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In the 1880s it was bricked over as part of the emerging storm-water and sewerage system. It is now completely underground but still discharges into the harbour beneath the Ferry
Building at the bottom of Queen Street. The last portions of the stream to be put underground were the lower part of what
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The
Kindergarten was intended as a philanthropic gift to benefit the mostly poor families of the area. The ground floor was operated as a free Kindergarten while the first floor was a School for Backward Children. While the free Kindergarten no longer exists the facility is run as a Playcare Centre
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Myers concluded his remarks that day by saying, "I trust this park will be a source of joy to the citizens of
Auckland, present and future. It is the people's property, may they treasure it as their own, seek enjoyment and recreation within its boundaries, and make it an agency for the promotion of
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presented the city with a granite statuary group of Five Goats. Guangzhou is known as the Five Goats City. Most
Chinese immigrants to New Zealand before 1949 came from the area around Guangzhou. The Guangzhou group recalls the Interwar period when the adjacent Greys Avenue was the home to many
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with playground equipment in 1912, Arthur Myers paid for the playground equipment and arranged for it to be imported from the US. The centrepiece of the park is the
Kindergarten Building, which Myers also paid for in a further donation to the city. This was probably influenced by the example of
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The concept of a Reform Park is halfway between these two extremes - a place of quiet reflection being unencumbered by either elevated artworks or noisy sports facilities. Myers Park was intended as a place where parents and small children could engage with nature in a relaxed setting devoid of
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the open stream became polluted, its lower reaches being little more than an open sewer. Several modifications were made; in the 1870s the City
Engineer Mr Ligar tried to stabilise the crumbling earth banks by creating wooden barrier walls resulting in it being referred to as the "Ligar Canal".
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Despite various announcements from
Auckland City Council and its successor Auckland Council over a decade nothing has been done to stabilise, renovate or restore the building. As part of the 2015 Centenary Celebrations the Karangahape Road Business Association paid for a Centennial mural to be
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It was retained when the park created between 1913 and 1916 and modified to harmonise with the adjacent
Kindergarten Building. For most of the 20th century it was occupied by Council staff but was rented out to private tenants after the 1980s. From the late 1990s it was left empty and began to
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were installed at the Queen Street entrance to the park; Hau te Kapaka "The Flapping Wind" which comment on the effects of pollution and human activity on the natural world and wildlife. The three bronze sculptures portray native shore birds which would have foraged up the Horotui Stream in
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By 1909 he had decided to move on from local politics to central government and was the Member of Parliament for Auckland at the time the park was proposed as part of Mayor Parr's City Beautification scheme. In 1913 he gave the City £9,000 to purchase the required land.
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The 'Reform Park' movement was a newly developed concept in the United States where rampant urban growth was raising many concerns and resulting in the systematic provision of safe spaces for children to play and green spaces to relax in.
247:. It was during this spate of development that Myers Park was founded. In 1913, the area of the gully was described as consisting of "slum shanties and rubbish tips", creating the popular impression that this was an example of
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designed by the City Park Superintendent Thomas Pearson, who had previously been employed by the New Zealand government to create the gardens at Rotorua, Te Aroha, Queenstown and Hamner Springs.
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Department Store offered the city a pair of marble statues which had been imported as part of their Centenary Celebrations. Both were full scale copies in marble of the work of
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buildings on Queen Street that are more than 100 years old. This house probably dates from the 1850s and was called "Randalls" presumably derived from a house mentioned in
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Auckland Council celebrated the centenary of the Park with a Festival on Sunday 15 February 2015. This included entertainments and civic speeches including one by Sir
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advocated many projects to enhance the urban environment of Auckland: this was inline with many similar overseas schemes, often using the term "The City Beautiful".
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In 1915 Myers also donated £4,000 to construct the Myers Free Kindergarten Building. The resulting structure by Chilwell & Trevithick is a prominent example of
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Chinese people, although it does not specifically commemorate this connection. The statue is a reduced version of the granite group erected in 1959 in
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deteriorate. The interior suffered two minor fires in 2005 and the dilapidated building has been boarded up since then, being regarded as an eyesore.
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details such as curved interior corners for safety and sanitary tilework for hygiene. The building was opened by the Governor General
612:. The playground had been remodelled the previous year and new landscaping undertaken including a certain amount of tree trimming.
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Opened in 1915 Myers Park is sometimes referred to as Auckland's oldest park, which is incorrect as several parks predate it: the
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at the base of the stairs leading to St Kevins Arcade. This marble statue is made of stone from the same quarry as the original.
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At this time many cities were trying to improve their civic landscape with Artistic Parks and Sports Grounds - in Auckland
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The park was named for its benefactor Arthur Myers and opened by Mayor Christopher Parr on Tuesday January the 28th 1915.
507:(KiNZ in the Park). The upper floor is now occupied by the Auckland Kindergarten Association. The building is listed by
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from 1905 - 1909. Myers had been responsible for a number of civic improvements during his time as mayor including
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Parr's mayoralty saw the establishment of many of Auckland's parks, such as Point Erin Park, Parnell Park (now
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1475–1564, being his famous David and Moses. The City declined the Statue of David but in 1973 installed the
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another benefactor; Sir John Logan Campbell who had paid for a similar facility to be provided for
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Following Myer's intentions, the 2.4ha² of the wasteland was transformed into an example of a
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699:. from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
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270:. He initiated a number of these projects himself or championed the ideas of others.
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is now Myers Park in 1908 and the upper reaches in 1914 when the park was created.
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Following the example of the department store owner John Court who had fitted out
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591:"The Flapping Wind" In 2011 the first two of three bronze items by the sculptor
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A playground, benches, and various artworks (including a marble copy of
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statue) are features of the park. Paths cross the park connecting to
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The park also contains the caretaker's cottage, one of only two
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pre-European times. The third statue was installed in 2013.
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artificial creations and activities like statues or sports.
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649:"City parks and green spaces - Later urban parks"
40:The palm-lined main path, upper part of the park.
803:"Century-old kauri building in way of Q Theatre"
487:Crowd alongside Myers Kindergarten, around 1917.
196:Running downhill from the northern slope of the
349:Myers Free Kindergarten building in Myers Park.
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651:. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
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778:New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero
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254:The park came about largely because of
451:Heritage New Zealand – Category 2
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319:for the kindergarten and playground.
292:1884 is an example of the former and
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1013:Geographic features and green spaces
184:(1911) and Parnell Park (1913) (now
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16:Park and kindergarten in New Zealand
830:"Myers Park Centennial Celebration"
732:Papers Past: The New Zealand Herald
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631:"Myers Park Development Research"
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1107:1993 Auckland mid-air collision
1100:Events and historical locations
1090:Auckland City Council (defunct)
801:Watson, John (9 October 2008).
576:In 1999 Auckland's sister city
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296:1905 an example of the latter.
211:The gully was the start of the
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1056:Karanga-a-Hape railway station
378:Arts & Crafts architecture
1:
513:Category II Historic Building
550:painted on the main facade.
493:Arts and Crafts architecture
989:Musical Electronics Library
957:Auckland Baptist Tabernacle
945:Buildings and organisations
600:2015 Centenary Celebrations
331:Myers Kindergarten Building
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774:"Myers Park Historic Area"
721:Heritage et AL: Myers Park
232:During his time as Mayor,
1046:Central Motorway Junction
1004:Tautai Pacific Arts Trust
857:Photographs of Myers Park
697:"Myers, Arthur Mielziner"
685:, Sunday 29 October 2006)
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440:Chilwell & Trevithick
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885:36.855364°S 174.761217°E
243:), and much land in the
1082:Waitematā and Gulf ward
1030:Symonds Street Cemetery
671:Myer's gift to the city
562:Michelangelo Buonarroti
432:Design and construction
256:Arthur Mielzinier Myers
241:Dove-Myer Robinson Park
186:Dove-Myer Robinson Park
890:-36.855364; 174.761217
808:The New Zealand Herald
585:in central Guangzhou.
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260:Mayor of Auckland City
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1077:Waitematā Local Board
863:heritage collections.
503:on 15 November 1916.
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782:Heritage New Zealand
743:Make Myers Park Safe
509:Heritage New Zealand
416:Construction started
157:, Grey's Avenue and
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861:Auckland Libraries'
374:Architectural style
359:General information
204:facing towards the
1138:Urban public parks
759:2006-10-01 at the
676:2007-09-28 at the
608:, the grandson of
558:Milne & Choyce
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466:Reference no.
398:381 Queen Street,
338:Myers Kindergarten
323:the public good."
268:Auckland Town Hall
228:The City Beautiful
1143:Parks in Auckland
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978:Karangahape Rocks
952:Artspace Aotearoa
647:Pollock, Kerryn.
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213:Waihorotiu Stream
206:Waitematā Harbour
198:Karangahape ridge
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151:Queen Street
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134:Queen Street
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1133:Karangahape
999:Samoa House
938:New Zealand
888: /
876:174°45′40″E
583:Yuexiu Park
574:Five Goats:
536:Jane Austen
461:26-Nov-1981
290:Albert Park
279:Reform Park
174:Albert Park
143:'s sitting
128:in central
53:Public park
1127:Categories
1065:Government
1025:Myers Park
873:36°51′19″S
839:2018-03-01
814:27 October
787:2009-12-21
703:8 November
683:City Scene
655:8 November
616:References
538:'s novel
458:Designated
327:to enjoy.
112:Myers Park
24:Myers Park
578:Guangzhou
528:Randalls:
424:Completed
972:Ironbank
934:Auckland
859:held in
757:Archived
674:Archived
400:Auckland
388:Auckland
384:Location
266:and the
180:(1905),
176:(1884),
172:(1875),
168:(1842),
130:Auckland
62:Auckland
58:Location
1112:KG Club
395:Address
192:History
121:Horotiu
82: (
77:Created
29:Horotiu
967:Cordis
681:(from
554:Moses:
155:K Road
102:Status
72:2.4ha²
634:(PDF)
567:Moses
532:kauri
511:as a
202:gully
146:Moses
116:Māori
816:2011
705:2013
657:2013
540:Emma
427:1917
419:1915
410:KiNZ
364:Type
126:park
84:1914
80:1914
69:Area
50:Type
469:619
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