Inauguration of the play area in Küchwaldpark
Press invitation: Friday, 31 August, 9 a.m., Parkeisenbahn station
Tomorrow at 9 a.m., Mayor Michael Stötzer will hand over the newly designed play area in Küchwaldpark, which runs from the festival meadow in the south-east to the edge of the forest above the ice rink. Themed exercise stations alternate with connecting elements. The result is a "microcosm" with a connection to nature, with individual elements such as "jumping bunnies", "spider's web" and "fox's den". There is also an ant hill to explore. The range of games modelled on nature is unique in Chemnitz. Imitating the animals stimulates children's urge to move.
Representatives of the media are cordially invited to this event.
The task of the playground planners was to provide children between the ages of 6 and 12 with a varied range of activities. They can slide, swing and climb on the new equipment. The new play attraction in Küchwald cost around 200,000 euros, 75 per cent of which came from the "Bridges to the Future" funding programme. Chemnitz-based company Liebscher & Partner GmbH has been working on realising the plans drawn up by Kretzschmar & Partner since April of this year. Hammer SHM GmbH is supplying the play equipment.
In the course of the construction work, the Parks Department optimised the previous route and adapted it to user behaviour. The play mile path now leads from Küchwaldstraße into the park in the direction of the park railway station and on to the edge of the forest on Wittgensdorfer Straße near the forest kindergarten and finally to the ice sports centre.
There is a "squirrel cave" to explore, for example. Children can climb in, hide, observe the surroundings, balance and shimmy - just like squirrels do at lofty heights. The signposts also lead to the "jumping bunnies" on the Küchwald festival meadow. This play station includes two new trampolines. The previous ones were defective or closed for safety reasons. The Parks Department responded to the wishes of many and replaced the jumping equipment with new ones as part of the construction of the Play Mile. All the other play stations also provide exercise, some of which incorporate nets or ropes, such as the "spider's web". Here you can balance on two pieces of play equipment or move around in the climbing net like the eight-legged animal role models. A play station on the avenue at Küchwaldring takes on the character of an ant hill. Imitating the small insects, children can appreciate the dimensions and bustling activity of an ant hill.
A "foxhole" is located near the ice sports centre. The fox builds its den under the ice - invisible to humans. However, such a den was "brought to the surface" as a positive form for playing. And so a fox den with its exits and entrances can now be easily explored.
At 97 hectares, the listed Küchwaldpark is one of the largest landscape parks in Saxony. It was designed by the Chemnitz horticultural director Otto Werner (*1854 -1923). The park is extremely popular with the people of Chemnitz as a local recreation area. In addition to its spaciousness and the Küchwaldbühne stage, park railway and cosmonaut centre, the municipal playgrounds also contribute to this.