Detailed proposals will go on show at a special open day in the Winter Gardens on Wednesday 14 April, 2–7pm, where people will be able to ask questions about the £5.38million scheme and make suggestions about how it should be finalised.
Aberdeen City Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) are joint funders of the scheme to restore the 44-acre Victorian park to its former glory.
The scheme will involve:
* renovation of the historic rose mound to its original height;
* re-instatement of the three linked ponds to create a boating lake and a bio-diverse wildlife pond which school pupils can use as an educational facility;
* restoration of the Duthie fountain to full working order in its original setting;
* re-introduction of the lost Victorian promenade.
HLF's Parks For People fund awarded the project £71,500 for Stage 1 development last year – matched by £74,700 from the City Council – and agreed in principle to award full Lottery funding of £2.56million once a finalised programme has been approved. That sum will be matched with £2.67million from Aberdeen City Council.
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The City Council has appointed Edinburgh-based Scott Wilson Ltd as lead consultants to draw up the detailed designs for the Stage 2 submission, which will be passed to the Heritage Lottery fund in a few months' time for a decision on full funding before the end of the year.
It is those Stage 2 plans which will go on display to the public at the open day, where council officials and the consultants will be on hand to field queries and listen to comments.
The aim of the project is to revitalise the historic 44-acre park, encourage even more people to visit, and make it an attractive setting for new activities and events. The future care of the park will be detailed in a new 10-year management and maintenance plan.
And in a further boost for the popular park, Aberdeen City Council will be able to invest a further £834,000, thanks to a generous bequest from the estate of Lorna Doreen Russell.
Mrs Russell, who lived at Banks O' Dee nursing home, had a passionate love of the David Welch Winter Gardens and, with her husband, spent many happy hours there. She died in April 2009, making the City Council a beneficiary of her estate, for the sole purpose of "extending, improving or otherwise refurbishing the Winter Gardens or providing other facilities at the park".
Officials are studying a range of schemes on which the bequest could be spent, including landscaping, modernising the play area, upgrades to the restaurant and work on the park's greenhouses – and a way will also be found to recognise Mrs Russell's generosity and love for the park.
Housing and Environment Committee convener Councillor Aileen Malone said: "Duthie Park is close to the hearts of all Aberdonians and known across the world, so I am delighted that we have the chance to make such a significant difference with the help of the Lottery and Mrs Russell's benevolence.
"The restoration work will see so many original features revived and I hope as many people as possible come along to the open day to see what is proposed and to have their say."
(GK)
