The new children’s playground at the Botanical Gardens opened yesterday to the delight of children at a Masterworks art camp.

Children from the nearby summer art camp were the first to experience the nautical-themed playground, which was originally at the America’s Cup Village Kids’ Zone.

“I love it because it’s really fun,” said Nia Mullings, aged 9.

Nia had visited the America’s Cup Village a couple of months ago and was thrilled to play on the equipment again.

Alaya Sealey, 6, was also impressed at the updates to the play area. She said: “It’s a lot of new things here.”

Hudson Ferris, 9, felt grateful for the improvements to the playground because he felt that before it was too “babyish”.

D’Jae Gilbert, a 14-year-old camp volunteer, said: “The most exciting thing would probably be the walk-through with the mist because it’s very hot.

“Other playgrounds have swings and slides. This one is new and different.”

D’Jae appreciated moving the playground to the Botanical Gardens because that gave children who were not able to visit the America’s Cup Village the opportunity to experience it.

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, Zane DeSilva, the Minister of Social Development and Sport, as well as various other contributors to the operation.

Colonel Burch said: “I feel like I was coming to thank the United Nations for coming together to bring this project to fruition.”

He added: “It was started by the former government and former minister Cole Simons.

“That’s where it has to start in terms of acknowledging their participation.”

He added: “It is also a good demonstration of democracy. It is great bringing together ideas from the community that just grow into something.”

Colonel Burch thanked the Honorary Consul for Austria, Katarina Hoskins, for her “unrelenting” support.

Mrs Hoskins was inspired to speak to the Department of Parks two years ago about building a playground in Botanical Gardens when she realised that there was no children’s play area for her sons.

“We wanted to keep it in the natural theme of the garden,” she said.

“It’s not a playground like you see in Shelly Bay or Warwick Playground — it’s made out of natural materials.”

Colonel Burch added that it was a pity it had taken two years to get the playground up and running.

“I believe that we could have done something before America’s Cup,” he said. “The fact that they were willing to donate it probably accelerated it, as it might have taken three years.”

Colonel Burch also revealed that plans were under way to install physical fitness sets in various parks around the island, including Astwood Park.

“We’ll start in some of the parks that are mostly used for walking,” he said.

“We’ll see how that goes and how we can expand it.”