In the 2nd District, the huge block of land bounded by Máriaremetei Road – Szabadság Street – Kadarka Street – Áchim András Street has been used for sports and as a community space by the residents of Pesthidegkút for decades. The József Pokorny Leisure Centre has been operating here since 2013 (51-57 Szabadság Street), and the Dezső Gyarmati Swimming Pool was built here in 2018-2019 (224 Máriaremetei Road). And today, the rethinking of the entire area of the block of land has been completed: the Community Park, the creation of which was decided more than four years ago, was handed over a few days ago.

Already in 2018, the 2nd District Local Council decided that they wanted to clean up the surroundings of the swimming pool, which was still under construction at the time, and would redevelop the entire area of the said block of land in accordance with the needs of the locals under the name of Community Park. The concept was developed in consultation with the local NGOs, which was also submitted to the capital's urban rehabilitation tender under the title Implementation of the Community Park.

Climbing wall in the park (Photo: 2nd District Facebook page)

In September 2018, the General Assembly of the Capital awarded 300 million HUF as part of the Tér-Köz tender, and in the same year, the government also supported the developments with 1 billion HUF. Among the ideas at the time were the creation of an extended running circuit, the placement of outdoor fitness elements, retaining the existing ones, the construction of an educational bicycle track for the schools and kindergartens in the area at the request of civil organizations, the construction of a playground, the creation of a multifunctional "teenager hill", outdoor classrooms, the creation of seating areas, table tennis and chess tables, the creation of pétanque, volleyball and soccer fields, as well as building a club room and a pavilion, the latter for law enforcement tasks.

Several sports fields and a fitness park await visitors (Photo: 2nd District Facebook page)

Building permit applications were also submitted in the fall of 2019 for the construction of the pavilion, another for the creation of a recreation centre, and a third for the establishment of a public park, and the permits also arrived that year but the developments did not start after the municipal elections in the fall of 2019.

Educational bicycle track (Photo: 2nd District Facebook page)

The works only started in September 2021 and were recently completed: the new leisure park was handed over on 12 November. MTI also reported on what was finally realised from the previous plans. A 450-metre-long, two-lane rubber-covered running circuit, an outdoor fitness park, an educational bicycle track and a playground were completed. The sports area has ping-pong and chess tables, pétanque, volleyball and basketball courts. New seating areas, individually designed street furniture, deckchairs and picnic areas await those who want to relax. The pavilion building, which can also be used as a club room, also has a café and a washroom, MTI announced.

Nearly 200 trees and thousands of shrubs were planted in the 28,000-square-metre park. Parking is facilitated by 19 parking spaces and bicycle storage facilities.

Source: MTI, Pestbuda.hu, ÉTDR, Budai Polgár

Cover photo: The Máriaremete Community Park has been completed (Photo: 2nd District Facebook page)