Bhubaneswar: Renovation work on the children’s park and sculpture garden at the state museum has been under way for the past four days. Currently, workers are engaged in cleaning the garden and planting grass afresh on its lawns.
Sources said the beautification of the children’s park and sculpture garden is estimated to cost `6 lakh.
Orissa POST had highlighted the poor condition of the park and garden in the report ‘Children’s park in museum cries for help’, May 23, 2015. The park and garden could have been major attractions among visitors in addition to the antiques housed there.
The park has been in a dilapidated state, overgrown with weeds; all its play structures including swings, see-saw and slides were being poorly maintained. The children’s park, which was named Kalika, was inaugurated February 27, 2007, by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Jayanti Rath, the state museum superintendent, said: “The work has just started. The lawn of the sculpture garden will be improvised and all the broken play structures will be replaced with new ones.”
Visitors have appreciated the beautification and renovation work. “The park and garden were in a bad condition for years. The park was meant for the children but weeds had grown all around and we couldn’t allow children to play there,” Rajendra Mohanty, a visitor, said.
The statues have been removed from the sculpture garden for the time being and will be reinstalled once the work is completed.
It will take three to four months more to finish the renovation. The contractor Mukesh Kumar said: “Right now we are layering the whole area. The sculpture garden will be beautified, and more play structures are to be installed in the children’s park.” PNN
