Victoria on the River draws crowd to opening
Lunchbreak with a view, a place to relax with friends or perhaps cycle up from the river path for a bite to eat.
Victoria on the River, a new public space in Hamilton’s city centre, officially opened last night.
The Hamilton City Council project is a terraced recreation area that connects central Hamilton with the Waikato River.
A few hundred people gathered yesterday while the site was blessed, with music playing and food trucks and stalls set up.
James Brooks, 40, brought his family down to have a look and was impressed with the venue.
‘‘It’s nice that you can’t see it from the road and that it opens up without trees in the way.
‘‘I"m definitely keen to use it in the future, come and have lunch here,’’ Brooks said.
Lisa McGregor, 48, came from out of town to have a look at the park and thought it was aesthetically pleasing.
‘‘I love the lounge seats. It’s a really nice way of combining the river and the city and utilising the area,’’ McGregor said.
Her only concern was the lack of shade in the middle of the day.
Carrie Roach, 54, loved it, and thinks it’s a nice place to come down to from town.
‘‘My concern is people tagging and the homeless using it as it is lovely,’’ Roach said.
Council parks and recreation manager Maria Barrie said it was an open space for everybody to enjoy.
There are timber seats, large concrete steps, a ramp system for wheelchair access to the river path, with green space up top and plants spread throughout.
No shade or hand rails were criticisms made by online commentators. Barrie said landscapers tried to plant as many specimen trees where they could to provide shade in the future.
‘‘It was about finding balance in having shade and blocking that main driver, which is the river view.
‘‘So we did try to achieve that [providing shade] by investing in the [appropriate] sized specimen trees.’’
She said the key objective was to connect the CBD to the river.
‘‘Some people come to town and they’re unaware that we’ve got a river,’’ Barrie said.
‘‘So having a place like this is going to be incredible for tourists, people working in the city, and those living in the apartments.’’