A famous ornamental garden in Ísafjördur, the capital of Iceland’s Westfjörds, is being used as playground for schoolchildren, despite concerns of neighbors.
The garden’s closest neighbors have brought charges against the city of Ísafjördur for using the flower garden as an extension to the public schoolyard. RÚV reports.
The ornamental garden was designed by Jón H. Björnsson in 1954, who is Iceland’s first landscape architect, and has also designed an ornamental garden in Reykjavík.
Resident Áslaug Jensdóttir told RÚV that using the ornamental garden as schoolyard showed lack of respect for all the work people have put into it.
Not many towns in Iceland have ornamental gardens. Besides the flower garden in Ísafjördur and a few ornamental gardens in the capital area, there is a botanic garden in Akureyri, specializing in arctic plants. It has become a popular tourist attraction.
