As work progresses on creating Bradford’s ambitious City Park, it will come under the scrutiny of a team of Bradford schoolchildren.

The £24.4 million scheme, led by Bradford Council and Yorkshire Forward, is hailed as a key aspect of Bradford’s regeneration, a catalyst for boosting the economy, supporting jobs and encouraging investment.

Last week saw the first signs of work on the site, with contractors moving in to clear out the former Tyrls police station in preparation for its partial demolition.

To the youngsters who recently visited the site, this new phase of Bradford’s development has echoes of the city’s past. The children will be linking Bradford’s industrial history to its present and future developments in a programme of artwork, film footage, animation, photography and written reports, all documenting the City Park scheme.

They are working with Bradford artist Tim Curtis, through the national Schools Linking Network and the City Park and Regeneration teams, the UNESCO City of Film team and Bradford University’s media studies students.

Tim’s involvement started last year when he worked with primary and secondary schools on an art collage inspired by the mirror pool concept.

Now he’s joined forces with pupils from Challenge College and Titus Salt School on a creative project documenting, celebrating and promoting the City Park scheme. Tim plans to work with Year 7 pupils in schools across Bradford. The youngsters’ artwork will be displayed on hoardings around the City Park site, and a film combining documentary footage with animation will be shown on the Big Screen in Centenary Square.

“This work will have a visible presence in the city centre over the next two years, giving these children a vehicle to articulate their vision for Bradford,” says Tim.

“Children tend to have a more positive view of Bradford than adults. When we first talked to them about the City Park, half of them were confused at first, but by the end of the day they were all excited.

“If we’re to give Bradford a future and change negative opinions, we need to get children on board with projects like this. Giving their work a presence on site, and taking them there in hard hats, makes it real, not just an abstract idea.”

Next month, Tim and the youngsters will be at Bradford’s Industrial Museum, using old printing presses to create Victorian-style newspapers. Later in the month they’ll be at the Telegraph & Argus looking at the 21st century process of creating a newspaper.

“The idea is for the children to develop their own journalistic skills; we’ll produce a DVD and news magazine, reporting on current stories and looking at what will happen in future when the City Park scheme is up and running. We’ll be filming changes in the city centre as they happen.”

Tim adds: “There are comparisons between what’s happening in Bradford now, and where it was during the Industrial Revolution. There’s a ‘hidden Bradford’, a lot of things people don’t know about the city.

“The mirror pool echoes back to the old water-course running through the city – the children had no idea about this. This project encompasses history, geography and culture. Schools are seeing it as a way of driving subjects in the curriculum.

“I’m not from Bradford, but my headteacher back in St Albans was a Bradfordian, and he taught us about the Industrial Revolution.

“When I first came here, looking around at the places, the mill chimneys and Victorian architecture he’d told us about was a wonderful experience.”

Tim claims the six-acre City Park – including the 4,200-square metre mirror pool, green spaces, public art and play areas – will raise Bradford’s European profile. “You have to go to Switzerland before you can see anything on this scale,” he says. “I think it’s awesome. Water gives a city centre a focal point. It makes it a more pleasant place to visit, live and work in, and water features are great for communal events like concerts.

“Bradford is set up for a more comfortable lifestyle than Leeds; it has great architecture, galleries, greenery. It’s not as built-up as Leeds city centre. We need to build on that. “I often hear negative reactions to Bradford, but you have to look beyond that. I took my children to Garden Magic in Centenary Square over the summer to see Jamie Wardley’s Darwin sand sculpture, and the atmosphere was fantastic.

“It was a taste of how an ambitious scheme, inspired by natural elements, can transform the city centre.”