Dunedin's beloved dinosaur slide faces extinction after 57 years

A Dunedin councillor trying to save a dinosaur in a playground from extinction has been amazed by the community response.

The dinosaur slide in Marlow Park, also known as Dinosaur Park, in St Kilda, has been a prehistoric fixture beloved by kids since 1969. Now, more than half a century on, its future is uncertain.

Some designs for a multi-million dollar park upgrade don’t include the slide, leading to a social media frenzy of comments.

Councillor Andrew Simms told Breakfast he was among the first to slide down it - 57 years ago - and it was immediately very popular.

“The queue would have been 300 kids long on the day that this slide opened.”

As part of the upgrade of the park, concept options have been put to councillors.

“And a couple of councillors noticed that the dinosaur was missing from a couple of the concept plans.”

He said he was amazed by residents’ responses.

“We've got some big issues in front of us at the moment as a community, including regional reorganisation and some big stuff going on but the one that's really got the interest of the community has been the dinosaur I think with over 800 comments on Facebook.”

Many have contacted him directly too, with memories of childhood visits and pleas to preserve the slide for future generations.

“I had an email yesterday from a lady who likes to discuss the issues of the day with her children and her little boy burst into tears when he found out the prospect that the dinosaur might be going.”

However, saving the slide won't be straightforward. The structure has aged and will need work before it can continue welcoming the next generation of kids — and some councillors are determined it won't go the way of the dinosaurs.

“There will be a cost to repairing it and also just bringing it up to the modern safety standards.”