A shipwreck play area, skateboard park and peaceful green haven have been revealed in tentative plans to revamp the sunken gardens on Douglas promenade.

A variety of designs have been published by Douglas Council as part of the ambitious scheme and were available for the public to view as part of feedback sessions held in the capital earlier this month.

They include a play park inspired by the history of Douglas Bay with a shipwreck, towers and a castle or a sand and water play area ‘bringing the beach to the promenade’.

The council’s key aims for the play park would be to create an iconic sculptural landmark, incorporate a planting scheme, provide seating and ‘hang out areas’ and refurbish the existing kiosk

There are also three different designs for a skatepark, such as a bowl design or one with a pyramids, rails and ledges. The key aims for the skate park would be to reimagine a play space for wheeled activities, such as skateboarding or rollerskating, provide space for a range of high activity sports, facilitate spectating zones and incorporate a new planting scheme.

A further three designs have been drafted for the greenspace with a beach park, maritime park or dunescape theme.

The ambition here would be to create a leisure and recreation space for residents and visitors to enjoy, incorporate a new planting scheme with a focus on pollinator species for wildlife, provide seating and hang out areas for relaxing, encourage natural play for children of all abilities and provide shelters from the weather.

By improving these gardens, the council also hopes to Increase pedestrian flow ow through the garden with focused viewpoints and create spaces for events and performances.

The council is planning to spend £1.4 million on revamping the promenade which includes a new £700,000 park 'play area' and a re-design of the gardens.

This is on top of £350,000 for renovations to the Marine Gardens and a further £350,000 for The Queen’s Promenade Gardens.

The new play area would be in the gardens opposite Jaks and the skate park would be adjacent to the play area opposite Quids Inn.

The greenspace area will be further north on Queens Promenade stretching from Switzerland Road to Summer Hill.

The local authority aims to have the work completed by March 2026.

Initial proposals to revamp The Sunken Gardens were set out in June 2021 in line with the works carried out by the government to improve the promenade.

However the promenade was hit by Storm Barra in December that year which destroyed the play area.

In May 2022 the council voted to reprioritise the works, which include flood protection and the park.

Work has already begun on building a new sea wall to increase resilience against future weather events.

The ambitious designs published are still at a very early stage with concrete proposals still some way off and will be shaped by feedback from the public.

POTENTIAL PLAY PARK DESIGNS: Planned for gardens at Loch Promenade (opposite Jaks)

POTENTIAL SKATE PARK DESIGNS: Planned for gardens at Loch Promenade (opposite Quids Inn)

POTENTIAL GREENSPACE DESIGNS: Planned for gardens at Queen’s Promenade (between Switzerland Road to Summer Hill)

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