THE MEGA SPORTS GROUND

A new 15 thousand square meter Sports Park has been recently opened near Mega Park in Almaty. It will definitely become a favorite place for residents of the city to spend their free time.

The cost of the construction of the Sports Park was 427.2 million tenge. The larger part of this amount, 306.4 million tenge, was Mega Management’s and Astana Motors’s own funds and the remaining 120.8 million tenge came from the partners' investments. There are so many sports grounds here, including a playground for volleyball, basketball, tennis, a football field (in winter it turns into an ice rink) as well as separate zones for workout and cross fit. There are two children’s playgrounds: one for the youngest children with mini-slides and trampolines, and the other one for older children with towers and stairs. There are benches and trees everywhere (450 trees and shrubs were planted here) and a small cafe where refreshments are also available. A rope park, which was built according to the design of the famous Kazakhstani mountaineer, Maksut Zhumayev, was occupied by kids long before its official opening. Maksut was happy that the rope park immediately attracted children’s attention.

«An area like this ground contributes to both physical and mental development of children,” the mountaineer said. «While advancing along a rope path, a child overcomes his/ her weaknesses and fears. Moreover, we promote green technologies, as our rope park is entirely made of wood. In the future, a seven-meter climbing wall will be installed next to it, and children will take classes here. I hope that all this will eventually increase the number of people who choose an active lifestyle. We could also organize hikes, bike tours, and trips to the mountains.”

At 9:30 a.m., the first cyclists started to arrive at the site in order to take part in the city bike ride. One of the winners of Giro d’Italia from the Astana team, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, was among them.

«It's wonderful that such grounds have been opened,” the champion said. «The most important thing is the health of the children, and here they can enjoy leisure not just for fun, but also for their own health. In the age of the Internet, we need to do everything to make the younger generation interested in sports rather than sitting at home with gadgets.

At that moment, Akim of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baybek and President of Astana Group Nurlan Smagulov arrived at the park on bicycles, and upon their arrival the opening ceremony of the new Sports Park started.

«I think that this place will become a favorite recreational place for Almaty residents,” said Akim of Almaty when ascending the stage. «Now it is very important to create safe public spaces in the city so that each family can take their children to enjoy their leisure time. Let’s love our city and make it even better because this is our common home.”

Meanwhile, more and more children came to the playground, and the place was beginning to liven up.

«It's very nice here. We are glad that this park is here,” Saule Ibrayeva, the mother of many children, shared her first impressions. «We live nearby and I think now we will come to this playground very often.”

While we were talking, four of Saule’s children rode on one of the merry-go-rounds. The next moment they ran to the slide.

«Will the children’s playgrounds always be free of charge or just today?” Saule asked. This question probably interested people most of all.

«Always,” I said.

«That's great,” the woman smiled.

Some areas will charge a small fee: a French carousel, which will be installed in the nearest future, a football field, a basketball field, a climbing wall, and a rope park. This money will be used to pay for the work of instructors who look after children. Many people have said that it will be nice for other businessmen to follow this initiative and make Almaty an even better place to live. It didn’t take a lot of time to realize an idea of turning a parking lot in front of the entrance of the shopping center into the Sports Park. In the spring, this area was fenced and work started. I myself frequently visited Mega Park with my children and during the whole period, we followed the progress of construction with interest. We were waiting for the opening. Just a couple of weeks ago the site was almost empty; only trees were planted and alleys were paved. It seemed that it was still far from completion. But the Mega team surprised us once again. It was hard to imagine that cars were parked on this spot. Now it is an oasis of sports, which the residents of Almaty will surely enjoy. Moreover, there is nothing similar nearby. There are no parks and recreation areas near the place. I think the playground in front of Mega Park will become a magnet that will attract not only kids who live nearby, but also all sports fans. In addition, all these different areas will be full of activities, such as master classes, various events, jogging and triathlon training sessions (by the way, a road for running was paved around the center), and mass public competitions.

«We gave a name to the shopping center — Mega Park, and we were often asked a question: «What does it have in common with a park? So, we have decided to restore justice,” said Nurlan Smagulov, talking about how this idea was born. «Now there are more than 12 grounds in our Sports Park, and all these recreational grounds are safe. Sport is a part of modern society, as now everyone is competing not by showing off cool cars but by demonstrating sports achievements. So, we’d like to invite everyone to come to our Mega Sports Park.”

As for me, I came here with my children on Sunday. We enjoyed our time and got great impressions. Now it’s your turn to come here.

Oksana Akulova, Almaty