The playground will be renamed from Ötholdas Pagony to Sziget-Kék (Island of Blue) – Visual representations below.
One of the most popular playgrounds in Debrecen, the Ötholdas Pagony located in the Great Forest (Nagyerdő), is to be transformed, modernized and expanded.
Nearly five billion forints of EU funding will be used to transform and modernize the Ötholdas Pagony playground. A visual representation is shown below.
The ideas were presented in detail on Monday, as well as the visual designs.
Mayor László Papp said that in addition to the development of transport and the economy, great emphasis is also placed on developments that increase the quality of life in the city. He added that the Pagony is planned to be renamed the Sziget-Kék (Island of Blue) playground, drawn from Magda Szabó’s fairy tale: it will be transformed into a theme park incorporating the elements of the fairy tale. He highlighted, for children to develop, their imagination to move is a big challenge, but they trust the rebuilt central playground will be to their liking.
The Island Blue will be a four-season playground with a central building, café and lookout tower. You can also get here in case of bad weather, and you can also have birthdays and other programs.
The area of the Island Blue will be doubled: a theme park will be set up in the area of the small forest, which was previously considered a construction area, without cutting down trees.
László Papp emphasized that the size of the area covered with paving stones will not increase. Next to the central building, a “small town” will be established with a ministry, police, gas station, small cars. The mayor is confident that the investment can start in the autumn, and families can relax on the renewed playground next summer. László Papp also talked about the fact that in the Green City Program, playgrounds will be built and renovated in many parts of the city, primarily in housing estates.
Member of Parliament Lajos Kósa said that several customer candidates had applied for the area, which is now being expanded, but it was never planned to sell it. “Debrecen is a city where we make a forest out of the construction area,” he said. He added the area will be fenced off so “spontaneous parties” will not be held there.
Deputy Mayor Diána Széles spoke about the plans to renovate Pagony for some years now, the opinions and feedback of the people of Debrecen were taken into account. It was a very important that in addition to retaining the shady trees, the play elements should be renewed so that children over the age of ten can play there with their younger siblings, laying down their electronic gadgets at home.
As he said, the playground will also have a family-friendly washbasin, a baby-mom room. She added that all play elements are accessible. Programs will also be organized for the playground venue with the Vojtina Puppet Theater and the Magda Szabó Memorial House.
The call for tenders was published in mid-April.
According to the call for tenders the design must build a single-storey, four-season container receiving building with a usable floor area of 447 square meters. In addition a Tourist information point, service units in the building complex; a social block, a café, a buffet, a shop and a separable room suitable for serving closed events and classes must be established.
The winner of the public procurement will also be responsible for the renovation of existing play equipment, construction of new play elements, landscaping and lawn mowing.
21 items of play equipment will be renovated, 25 new ones will be installed, and a 19-element play city will be built.
More than a thousand meters of new fencing will be built, 2,400 square meters will be covered with shock-absorbing rubber, a thousand sand, 8,000 square meters will be grassed with grass seeds, in total there will be 8,700 square meter area covered by grass. More than five thousand shrubs will be planted in the area, and an irrigation system will be installed to protect the green space.
Companies can apply for the call until May 17th, with the winner having seven months to complete the work.
Magda Szabó’s 1959 fairy tale novel Sziget-kék tells the story of Valentin. The little boy, to rescue his accident-stricken mother, goes to a special island to find the island-blue elixir with which to save him.
Source: Dehir
Photos: Szabolcs Kandert
