Myers Park Playground

Myers Park drops into a gully between Karangahape Road and Mayoral Drive, a green pocket the whole city centre leans on, and it is one of the few CBD playgrounds RNZ singles out as genuinely accessible for children with disabilities.

Equipment

The play area mixes a splash pad with a small multi-play structure and slides, an embankment slide, climbing modules, a carousel and quirky animal sculptures, and a hollow vegetable to clamber through. A basket swing and infant swing sit alongside a junior slide for the littlest visitors. The splash pad and playground were already well loved before a 2022 upgrade added new connections into the park.

Access and Inclusion

That April 2022 upgrade turned the old underpass carpark linking Queen Street to the park into a welcoming public space, with a new staircase, seating, lighting and native planting easing the walk in. RNZ named the wheelchair-friendly surface and basket swing among the features that made Myers Park stand out, since only 128 of Auckland's 887 public playgrounds were rated accessible for children with disabilities as of January 2022. That combination makes it a rare central-city playground built for caregivers pushing prams or wheelchairs as much as for running kids.

History and Cultural

The land was a deteriorating gully until Sir Arthur Myers gifted the funds to transform it, and the park opened on 28 January 1915 with hundreds of children among the crowd. Myers went further, paying to import playground equipment from the United States and later funding a kindergarten on site, among the country's first purpose-built children's playgrounds. The underpass artwork added in the 2022 upgrade was created by Graham Tipene of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, weaving mana whenua design into the walk between Queen Street and the park.

Practical Info

Facilities include public toilets, a drinking fountain and seating, all covered by Council's smokefree parks policy. Parking is on-street only, so a Queen Street bus stop or the Aotea rail link is often the easier option for a CBD visit. Small shelters cover part of the equipment at midday, though the seating is exposed, so bring a hat for a longer stay.