A Facebook page calling for the return of an iconic Tauranga amusement park is generating interest from hundreds of people around the Western Bay and across the world.
The Facebook page, titled Bring Back Leisure Island Pools, was created last weekend and since then, 537 people "liked" the page and about 100 had voiced hopes of reopening the Mount Maunganui Leisure Park, which operated for about a decade from 1981.
The attraction included bumper boats, a variety of hot and cold pools and a waterslide that travelled from the top of the island into the pool below.
Former Leisure Park worker Rex Green had fond memories of the attraction and he wasn't surprised to hear the Facebook page had been set up.
"I guess you could call it nostalgia. It really was something that should have been carried on ... but I understand to carry it on would have been a huge job and I honestly don't think it could ever happen again because of the expense and resource consents you would have to go through now and that's a real shame.