Nairobi’s famous Central Park and Uhuru Park are anticipated to sparkle after renovations are finished. The two amusement parks are prepared to reopen to the public after being shut down for a year to allow for renovation.
Under the direction of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), the two parks have been receiving restorations since September 2021 in an effort to bring them up to par with other international parks.
The updates came after the Nairobi County Assembly approved a proposal to restructure the parks, which had long been neglected.
NMS Director General Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi revealed intentions to upgrade Uhuru and Central Parks to the same standards as the parks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in July of this year.
According to Gen. Badi, the updates were made to the Nairobi County green areas in an effort to both rehabilitate them and bring them up to level with other international parks.
Prior to the launch, whose date has not yet been confirmed, NMS gave a sneak preview of the new-looking facilities on Tuesday.
The two parks will now house a number of recreational amenities, including a skating park, running routes, and an outdoor gym. The 12.9-hectare park will have well-kept trees, mowed grass, improved paths, and green areas.
A playground, an outdoor gym, jogging tracks, botanical paths, and an amphitheater were all built as part of the rehabilitation work, which began 52 years after the green spaces were first made available to the public.
“The rehabilitation works, which come 52 years after the green spaces were first opened to the public, involved the construction of various buildings and landscaping features that include a playground, an outdoor gym, jogging tracks, botanical trails, an outdoor library and a skating park,” NMS said in a tweet, alongside photos of the revamped facilities.
There will also be an outdoor amphitheatre fitted with an audiovisual screen, a Nyatiti-shaped events garden, as well as a children’s play area, with bouncing castles and merry-go-rounds. The parks will also feature several eateries and high-end hotels
The iconic Nyayo statue and Mau Mau freedom fighters monuments have also been maintained as well as a more defined freedom corner in remembrance of Prof Wangari Maathai. A larger artificial lake has been transformed into a major waterfront with a Swahili restaurant.
“The revamped green spaces will play a critical role in environmental pollution management, social-economic development of the nation as well as the physical well-being of citizens,” NMS added.
Uhuru Park hosts an artificial lake (located in the centre of the park), several national monuments, and an assembly ground that had become a popular skateboarding spot on weekends.
This development is part of an ambitious project of restoring and transforming the Nairobi River ecosystem as well as green and public spaces in the capital aimed at revitalising major neighbourhoods in the capital.
On the other hand, Central Park will have an outdoor library for use by children to read and it will also be used for book launches. The park will also have a monument to honour health workers who have lost their lives battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
The basic facilities at the parks were built for people in the 1960s and 80s who were less than one million at the time but now Nairobi has a population of more than four million.
