Super slide is star at transformed £500,000 Archway Park

It was smiles all round on Saturday (September 30) as the Mayor of Islington officially re-opened Archway Park following a £500,000 transformation.

The park, which sits at the junction of St John’s Way and Archway Road, now has something for everyone, with better landscaping and lighting as well as brand new play and sports facilities.

Local children were eager to try out the new equipment, which includes a new big slide, while a face-painter, juggler and plate spinner were there to entertain people as part of the free celebrations to mark the re-opening.

Mayor of Islington, Cllr Una O’Halloran, speaking at the event, said: “It’s fantastic to be here to celebrate with local families. The children here today love the new equipment and I think this will quickly become an important and much-loved space in Archway.”

Cllr Claudia Webbe, Islington Council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: "It is wonderful to see the transformation of the park from when I was last here in December 2016, whilst the works were underway. The new facilities are excellent and there is now something for everyone to enjoy, providing a safer, more valuable and accessible community asset, for residents and visitors alike.

"By listening to what residents had to say about what they wanted from the park, we’ve been able to do so much more. There’s always been a huge super slide and we are so pleased to have been able to retain this historic feature. I am really pleased we were able to prioritise much needed improvements to Archway Park.”

As part of the improvements the old play area and ball court were ripped up, concrete mounds removed and the park-keeper’s building demolished.

In place, visitors now have a new play area, multi-use ball court, concrete table tennis table and seating as well as better views across the park from surrounding streets. There is also a new footpath across the park and improved lighting, which will hopefully encourage more people to use it as a walking route.

The improvements were funded by Islington Council, the London Marathon Trust and Transport for London – via the Safer Routes To Estates programme.

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