Work has started on a new Cardiff park to honour Wales' first female professor. Parc Mackenzie will be behind the National Museum of Cardiff, between Park Place and Museum Avenue and takes its name from Professor Millicent Mackenzie, who was a professor of education at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire - now Cardiff University - from 1910-1915.
The park will include a new 'natural play area', with log trails and climbing nets beneath a tree canopy. It will also feature an open lawn area with seating, new natural stone paths, lighting, sculptures, a new entrance plaza, and rain garden.
All existing trees currently at the site will be retained and new trees will also be planted. A Grade-II listed Victorian toilet block at the site is also to be restored and converted to a café by a private developer at a later date. In addition to her work in academia, Professor Mackenzie campaigned for women's rights and founded the Cardiff branch of the Suffragettes.
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She went on to become Wales' first female parliamentary candidate and was the only woman standing at the 1918 general election. Professor Mackenzie was also one of the first vice-presidents of the Union of Ethical Societies, which is now Humanists UK.
"We've come a long way from the days when Millicent Mackenzie had to obtain special permission to continue working after she got married, but the achievements of women are still massively under-represented in our public spaces," Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke-Davies, said.
"Naming the park after Professor Mackenzie is another step towards redressing that historic imbalance. The new Parc Mackenzie is part of our ongoing £3.2 million programme of parks and play area investment and will revitalise this currently underused space."
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