Rocks Riverside Park | |
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Type | Recreation |
Location | Counihan Road, Seventeen Mile Rocks |
Nearest city | Brisbane |
Area | 26 ha (64 acres) |
Created | 7 December 2003 |
Operated by | Brisbane City Council |
Status | Open |
Awards | 2006 Water Saving Award, 2003 Year of the Built Environment Award, 2003 Innovation Award |
Rocks Riverside Park is a park by the Brisbane River in outer south-west Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The park was opened on 7 December 2003, and features industrial artefacts from its previous use by the Queensland Cement and Lime Company. Public art which draws upon the park's industrial heritage are also featured throughout, as is a crop patch which reflects the site's farming days.
Rocks Riverside Park is the largest riverfront park in Brisbane. It has 800 metres of riverfrontage and covers an area of 26 hectare. The park is nestled in amongst other industrial sites at 5 Counihan Road, Seventeen Mile Rocks in Brisbane, Australia.
The project architect was Cenk Yuksel. The main builders were Naturform and Stewart Constructions.
The park is broken into three major zones. There is the river flat, a formerly rich riparian environment, then market garden and industrial site; the bushland range, which forms the backdrop for the river flat area covered with dry eucalypt forest; and a major green link from the park to the suburbs to the south.
Features include a water play area, a flying fox, shelters, lawns, bushland, gardens and electric barbecues. There are also adventure playgrounds, a climbing web, bikeways, a basketball court, a liberty swing for children with disabilities, an amphitheatre, a pavilion, and open spaces for lawn gatherings.
Five areas of the park are available for bookings.
The park features an innovative, underground, non-drinking water recycling project. State of the art sewer grinding, ultraviolet disinfection and a reed bed treatment process were used. The treatment process has a low environmental impact, is cost-effective and low-maintenance. The system allows the park to be watered during drought when water restrictions would otherwise apply.
The Rocks Riverside Park area has had many different uses over its lifetime. Irish immigrants, Robert and Frances Henry bought the land and cleared the dense scrub and vine thickets from the site. Sugar Cane, Oats, Barley and Corn were grown on the site until the land was sold in the 1920s. From the late 1940s to the 1960s Tomatoes, Capsicum, Beet and Peanuts were grown by Frank Pettinato, a Sicilian immigrant.