Park's pirate ship under siege

Paige Conley and Lachlan Anderson were the best girl and best boy pirates. Photo/Stuart Munro

Kowhai Park was the scene of a dramatic takeover by pirates of all ages on Sunday.

Four Wanganui Rotary Clubs combined to spruce up the pirate ship over three weekends to replace the superstructure.

Yesterday morning, before the 2pm relaunch by Mayor Annette Main, Emmett's Cranes placed the superstructure back into place.

And then the weather unleashed wind and rain, which held things up for a while.

Back on track, the sun shone and the pirates came out before they took over the newly painted ship.

Ms Main spoke of how Kowhai Park was a "gem" with a special place in Wanganui hearts.

"People who played here come back to recreate their memories."

She encouraged those who worked at the park to keep on painting it, to add to it but not to change it.

"This really is a nostalgic place."

Former Rotary District Governor Bob Smith said February 23 was the 109th anniversary of the founding of Rotary and yesterday was a celebration for the combined Rotary Wanganui clubs.

"We want to make this an event every year," Mr Smith added.

Current District Governor (lower North Island) Debbie Gimblett from Foxton was also at the celebration.

Mr Smith said Rotary would join an alliance with Lions to work at the park. Previously the now-disbanded Jaycees built a lot of the children's features before Lions and Rotary joined them.

The next project will be the castle, Mr Smith said.