Wellington's beloved but dangerous Frank Kitts Park slide turned into firewood chute

The Frank Kitts Park slide was dismantled this morning. Photo / Mark Mitchell

What once was an iconic slide on Wellington's waterfront at Frank Kitts Park now lies in pieces and will be turned into a firewood chute.

Etched into its fibreglass are memories of two different lives.

By day, delighted squeals echoed through its upper tube from children who relentlessly climbed up the lighthouse tower to go down the slide again and again.

By night the slide was home to moonlight pashes, first dates, illicit substances, and drunken antics.

Chelsea Wintle clearly remembers walking along the waterfront on a date many years ago.

She and her date happened upon Frank Kitts Park and Wintle thought it would be "kooky" to go down the slide.

She underestimated the effect the sleek viscose material of her work dress would have against the surface of the slide and she flew off the end.

The slide will be turned into a chute to load firewood with. Photo / Mark Mitchell

After landing on the ground awkwardly, she tried to brush off her fall, saying she was fine until her date pointed out she was actually bleeding.

Her hand had indeed been sliced open but as Wintle says, it obviously didn't put off her date because they ended up together for the next two years.

The slide was one of the last of its kind - it was a bespoke slide made specifically for the site and installed some time around 1989.

Yet the slide did not enjoy the heritage status that would have saved it, unlike many other structures in Wellington.

The central library for example, which is two years younger than the slide, was recently listed as a Category 1 Historic Place.

For some, the slide was a rite of passage.

The Frank Kitts Park slide is one of the last of the bespoke slides. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Amber Leigh Stevens remembers her 22-year-old self ending up at Frank Kitts Park at the end of a date.

The pair drank cheap red wine from the bottle on the lighthouse platform and went down the slide a little too confidently.

Stevens was left with a bruise on her behind in a shape matching the matting at the end of the slide.

She and her date lay there staring at the stars until day broke and early morning runners started giving them disapproving stares.

It's still one of her favourite dates of all time even though they aren't together any more.

Samantha McLachlan has memories of visiting Wellington from Tauranga when she was a child.

Her grandparents lived in Churton Park so they would go into the city for a day trip and walk along the waterfront. They would start at Frank Kitts Park and end up at the beach at Oriental Parade.

McLachlan has clear memories of the slide and ending up with scrapes down her back from going too fast, but that never stopped her from going down again.

Even if the slide was a bit rough, she liked climbing up the tower it was attached to.

Being so high and getting to look across the waterfront was a strong memory for her as a child.

But the slide had a dark side that's recently been brought to light.

There have been several unfortunate incidents where young children have been seriously injured while playing on it.

Earlier this year a 5-year-old girl broke her leg and required a full leg cast from her hip to her toes.

Unlike Wintle's sleek dress, children's "grippy" shoes would get caught on the slide, causing injuries.

The gap that's left in the lighthouse tower from where the slide was attached has been fenced off with mesh. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The young girl wasn't the only one and the slide's fate was sealed. The council could not risk any more incidents and a $6 million redevelopment of the park, including a new slide, was going ahead in January anyway.

This morning the slide was dismantled. It was cut into pieces to make its removal more manageable. A five-tonne digger was involved in the operation.

The gap that's left in the lighthouse tower from where the slide was attached has been fenced off with mesh.

Wellington City Council fielded requests from people who wanted to take a section of the slide to turn into their own slide, but the council wasn't comfortable with this as the cuts contractors made to remove it exposed fibres.

However, the council has granted the request of one person who wanted to use all the sections as a chute to load firewood with.

Wellingtonians can take some comfort in the fact the iconic Frank Kitts Park slide will not be left to rot at the dump, but instead has a new lease on life.