Pound's Park Sheffield: Pictures and video as we try new city centre park in sneak preview ahead of opening

And we’ve had a sneak preview, and tried out one of the new play facilities which open to families across the city from Monday.

We were given access to the site as workmen put the final touches in place – and we have put together this gallery of pictures to show you exactly what you will see from April 3 at Pounds Park, Rockingham Street.

Entering the park, the first thing you see are the 11 metre tall, towering, twin slides – one a tube slide, the other an open slide. Visitors will be able to climb up a scramble net inside the towers before zooming down, A rope bridge joins the two structures together.

Also prominent on the site is the climbing boulder – a man made structure created by the firm Rock Works, made of concrete spraying onto a polystyrene core. It is created with footholds to give those who take it on a taste of rock climbing in the city.

We also took the chance to try out what has been called ‘dance chimes’. This is a grid of nine tiles in the ground – and each one you step on creates a different note. You can hear how it sounds in our video of the new venue.

The water play area will not be up and running on Monday – it is still waiting for the water to be connected. But you can see in our pictures how it will work. It is similar the the existing facility in Millhouses Park, with a pump taking water down a course that ends with an archimedes screw. Youngsters can divert the flow at various points.

Finally, what looks like a traditional see-saw has a hidden use – it works as a water pump to power fountains that will throw water into the air from nozzles on top of poles.

And even if you’re not there with children at the site, there will be plenty of places to sit and relax in what is going to be the centre of one of the most modern developments in the city.

Sheffield Council bosses decided to open the park to the public early on April 3, so that the new park can be used over the Easter weekend and school holidays.

Named after Sheffield’s first Chief Fire Officer, Superintendent John Charles Pound, the park is located on the former fire station site between Rockingham Street, Wellington Street and Carver Street, and will offer a multitude of experiences, including spaces for play, relaxation and socialising.

Although all landscaping elements of the park are now complete and the public can get in from Monday, some utilities and facilities are due to be completed later in the month – most notably the power and water connectivity that will allow for the new accessible public toilets to open and for the water play features to be turned on – but the council has made arrangements for evening lighting and CCTV.

Current public access will be available from Rockingham Street and the north-western corner of the park from Carver Street.

Part of Heart of the City – the £480m regeneration scheme led by Sheffield City Council and their Strategic Development Partner Queensberry, Pound’s Park is flanked by a number of evolving Heart of the City construction sites, so its final integration into the surrounding streets is still to be completed later this year.