Works commence on Darwin’s Jingili Water Gardens inclusive playground

Works are set to begin this week on upgrades to the Jingili Water Gardens playground with the aim of making it one of Darwin’s most inclusive and accessible community play spaces showcasing some impressive local artistic features with a ‘Magical Mangroves’ theme for all members of the community to enjoy, including children of all abilities and their carers.

Jingili Water Gardens, as one of the most popular parks in Darwin contains lily ponds, a community garden, BBQs, accessible toilets with adult change facilities, a large shaded playground and a skate park.

The $1.1 million upgrade is being undertaken in partnership with children’s charity Variety NT, who have provided $60,000 towards playground accessibility and the National Disability Insurance Agency, who have provided $130,000 towards the artistic elements of the project.

Council engaged public art consultants Milne & Stonehouse, who worked closely with Freespace Public Art Collective, a team of six local artists to integrate public artwork throughout the playground design.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis notes “it is fantastic to see upgrades at the playground happening after we took on board suggestions from the community in relation to what they would like to see installed at the playground.

“The key feature pieces of the play space are the Green Ants Nest, accessible playground furniture and bespoke artwork integrated into the shade cloth design.

“We have also built Darwin’s first public space accessible change facility with a hoist, bench and toilet for people with special needs and their carers.

“Once the works have been completed this will be a fantastic playground that children of all abilities will be able to enjoy and have lots of fun.”

Variety NT General Manager, Katrina Fong Lim adds “Variety NT are really excited to be working in partnership with City of Darwin in this fabulous playground project so that all kids will have the opportunity for play.”

The Greens Ants Nest was developed by Milne & Stonehouse and integrates the artwork of Freespace Public Art Collective within its structure. It includes play elements such as slides, small rope climbing nets and musical instruments. It was custom-made to facilitate creative and inclusive play and exploration.

The Jingili Playground will be closed from Tuesday, 3rd August and will reopen in November 2021.

Partners involved in this fantastic project include, Variety NT, National Disability Insurance Agency Information, Darwin Freespace Studio Artist Collective and Darwin Community Arts.

More information on the project, visit darwin.nt.gov.au/projects/jingili-regional-playground-upgrade and darwin.nt.gov.au/community/programs/arts-and-cultural-development/city-of-darwin-public-art-program.