Myers Park | |
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Type | Public park |
Location | Auckland, New Zealand |
Area | 2.4ha² |
Created | 1914 |
Operated by | Auckland Council |
Status | Open year round |
Invalid designation | |
Designated | 12 December 1994 |
Reference no. | 7008 |
Myers Park is a narrow park in central Auckland, New Zealand, running parallel to the upper part of Queen Street. It is characterised by steep, grassed slopes and canopied with a mixture of large exotic and native trees, including an alley of large palm trees.
A playground, benches, and various artworks are features of the park. Paths cross the park connecting to Queen Street, K Road, Grey's Avenue and Aotea Square.
Myers Park is located at the southern end of the Queen Street Valley. This area was historically settled by Maori. By the 1860s working-class housing had developed in and around the gully. Near the end of the century the gully and surrounds had become slum-like. This led to a push for beautification in the area. [1]
In 1913 Arthur Myers donated money to the Auckland City Council to establish a children's park in the gully. Myers' sister, Martha Washington Myers, was a supporter of parks as a way to improve the health and well-being of children. [1] The park and kindergarten was envisioned as a 'symbol of progress'. [2]
Supporters championed the park as beneficial to the commonweal, specifically they believed it would improve the health of working-class mothers and their children. [1]
Buildings surrounding the park were cleared and the park was opened on 28 January 1915 [1] [3] by Mayor Christopher Parr. It was named after Arthur Myers. Myers said on the day of the opening: "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 the public good." [3]
Myers Kindergarten | |
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General information | |
Type | Kindergarten |
Architectural style | Arts and Crafts |
Location | Auckland, New Zealand |
Address | 381 Queen Street, Auckland |
Current tenants | KiNZ |
Construction started | 1915 |
Completed | 1917 |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Chilwell & Trevithick |
Designated | 26 November 1981 |
Reference no. | 619 |
The Myers Kindergarten was funded by Arthur Myers.
In November, 1916 the Myers Kindergarten opened. The arts and craft building has a circular layout with a central room that diverges into smaller classrooms. As of 2024 it is used as an early learning centre by the Auckland Kindergarten Association. [2]
The kindergarten was designed with children in mind and several of the design choices reflect that: the interior walls are curved instead of having sharp edges, large doors opened out right onto the park, the interior was painted green and white as a way to connect the children with nature, and the texture of the building was meant to be similar to the pathways of the park. [2]
During the 1918 influenza pandemic the building was used as a children's hospital. [2] [4]
During the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic the building was renovated. [2]
The building is listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category II Historic Building, and the park itself is registered as Historic Area. [5]
The park also contains the caretaker's cottage, one of only two kauri buildings on Queen Street that are more than 100 years old. [6]
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. The northern end is at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal. The road is close to straight, the southern end being almost three kilometres away in a south-southwesterly direction on the Karangahape Road ridge, close to the residential suburbs in the interior of the Auckland isthmus.
George Street is the main street of Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for two and a half kilometres north-northeast from The Octagon in the city centre to the foot of Pine Hill. It is straight and undulates gently as it skirts the edge of the hills to its northwest. South of The Octagon, Princes Street continues the line of George Street south-southwest for two kilometres.
Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street, Princes Street and George Street. Like many streets in Dunedin, it is named for a street in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
Waihorotiu, sometimes called the Waihorotiu Stream and the 'Queen Street River', is a stream that ran down the Queen Street gully in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand, into the Waitemata Harbour. It has long since been covered over and put underground by the urbanisation of the area.
Victoria Park Market is a cluster of galleries, workshops, studios, offices, restaurants and retail shops as well as a gym and Pilates Studio in Auckland, New Zealand. The precinct is housed in a former waste depot and incinerator complex. It is located in Freemans Bay and its name derives from the adjacent Victoria Park which was created in 1905 and named after the late Queen who had died four years earlier.
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Symonds Street is a street in Auckland, New Zealand's most populous city. The road runs southwest and uphill from the top of Anzac Avenue, through the City Campus of University of Auckland, over the Northwestern Motorway and Auckland Southern Motorway and to the start of New North Road and Mount Eden Road.
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The Warehouse Precinct is an urban area of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Sited on reclaimed land at the northernmost tip of the Southern Endowment, it lies between 1 and 2 kilometres south of The Octagon, the city's centre.
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Quay Street is the northernmost street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand. The Auckland Ferry Terminal, which has ferries running to Devonport, Waiheke Island, and other places in Waitematā Harbour; the Hilton Auckland hotel; and Ports of Auckland are on the north side of the street. The Britomart Transport Centre, Queen Elizabeth Square and Grand Mercure Auckland hotel are on the south side.
Shortland Street was the initial commercial street of Auckland and remains a key financial and legal centre for Auckland city. It runs east from Queen Street up to Princes Street, providing a connection from the business district to the Auckland High Court and University of Auckland.
Anzac Avenue is a street in Auckland, New Zealand's most populous city. It was constructed between 1914 and 1919 to link Beach Road to Symonds Street, and was named as a memorial to the troops who died in the Gallipoli campaign.
The Selwyn churches were a group of 19th-century Anglican churches and chapels in the Auckland region, New Zealand, named after Bishop Selwyn, who inspired their construction. The majority were built in wood in the neo-gothic style, and many were designed by the architect Frederick Thatcher.