THE first phase of the newly restored Cassiobury Park tea pavilion, gutted by a fire started by arsonists in January 1999, was opened with speeches and a buffet lunch on Wednesday.

Chairman of the Cassiobury Park steering group Lord David Evans, Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill and services manager for Watford Council's parks and cemeteries department Mr Paul Burgess, were among those who came to launch the new improved facilities.

At a cost of £250,000, the building was re-built and developed.

It is the same size as it used to be, but now houses a lobby, hall, toilets for children and for adults, storage area, a kitchen and shower room.

Mr Burgess said: "The pavilion used to be home to a children's playgroup, so we have kept this in mind when redesigning the building.

"The playgroup should therefore be moved back in but the park steering group have came up with various options and ideas for how it could be used. It is early days."

One plan for the pavilion is to turn the lobby into a visitors centre, called an interpretation centre, with leaflets about the park and a virtual reality tour of Cassiobury House.

Mr Burgess said: "This has been a long time coming. We've had lots of technical problems along the way and added expense. A lot of work went into securing extra funding.

"We have restored an old building but incorporated new ideas and it has not been cheap.

"I would like to thank Property Services at the council and the Cassiobury Park steering group whose efforts have driven this forward."

July 11, 2002 12:30