This playground stood where part of the eastern carriageway of Chatham Road is today, opposite Chatham Road's junction with Cameron Road.
An article on page 7 of Hong Kong Telegraph 1925-09-11 is mainly about plans to further extend the playground, but also has these details of its early years:
| It is interesting to record that the playground on Chatham Road was first opened in August, 1913, its provision having been brought about as the result of insistent demands by the Press for some such facilities for the children of Kowloon. The playground was then a very small plot and there have been several extentions. Extra seats were provided in April 1915, swings were later added, there was a small extension in May, 1918, and the permanent shelter was completed early in 1919. Entirely new swings were provided in 1922, and the erection of the existing matshed, in order to provide greater shade space, was carried out in 1923. |
The 1961 map below shows the extent of the playground (marked in green), not long before the playground was closed. The blue area to the right is the British Army's Chatham Road Camp. In 1961, Chatham Road was a single carriageway.
At some point in the mid-1960s, this playground was removed so that Chatham Road could be expanded to become a dual-carriageway.
A new playground and rest garden were built to the south, shown in green on the 1968 map. They were built on a piece of land previously occupied by the southern part of the Chatham Road Camp, the Bible Auditorium, and the N.A.A.F.I. Club.
The playground's 'permanent shelter' that was completed in 1919 has its own page at https://gwulo.com/node/5853, and appears in several photos, e.g.:
Photos that show this Place
