Roma Street Parkland covers 11 hectares in the centre of the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The Roma Street Parkland is adjacent to the former

Brisbane Transit Centre The Brisbane Transit Centre, at 151–171 Roma Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was a long-distance bus station. It was closed and demolished in 2020 along with its three office towers. It was commonly regarded as the ugliest building ...

and the

Roma Street railway station Roma Street railway station is a commuter and long-distance passenger train station located in the Brisbane central business district, central business district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the junction station for the North Coast ...

from which it takes its name (the park does not directly face onto Roma Street). There is pedestrian access to the Roma Street Parkland from the Roma Street railway station, as well as from Albert Street, and from the section of the Parkland which was formerly called ''Albert Park'' on

Wickham Terrace Wickham Terrace is one of the historic streets of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known as the street of private medical specialists. Geography Wickham Terrace commences at the western corner of the intersection of Ann Street, Brisbane, ...

. Roma Street Parkland is open to visitors 24 hours a day, except for the Spectacle Garden and Rainforest Walk, which are open daily from dawn until dusk. There is also a car park area, with road access from the intersection between

, College Road and

Gregory Terrace Gregory Terrace is a road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Geography Gregory Terrace commences at an intersection with Wickham Terrace and College Road in Spring Hill (). It travels in a north-easterly direction through Spring Hill, Fortit ...

. Roma Street Parkland is the world's largest subtropical garden in a city centre. The parkland features a variety of themed gardens and recreational areas, with an extensive web of pathways and boardwalks traversing cascading waterways and rocky outcrops, and also ''in situ ''artworks by 16 local artists.

History of the site

Local

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

people used the area for thousands of years conducting meetings and ceremonies. In 1825 the Roma Street Parkland area was part of the original Brisbane settlement. In 1875 a railway terminal station on Roma Street was constructed as part of the Main Line railway linking Brisbane to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. The terminal grew to become a major goods yard for Brisbane and, between 1911 and 1934, the area was extensively redeveloped to support its increase in services. In 1920 extensive excavation, removing 554,300 cubic metres of earth, permanently altered the steep terrain creating the current day artificial escarpment and the boundary of the former Albert Park. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the terminal was vital for transporting war materials and military personnel north. Continuing to grow, the Roma Street railway station was redeveloped to service a metropolitan and long-distance train network. Because of limitations of the site revealed through the increasing mechanisation of freight handling and the use of containers, the facility was eventually relocated to Acacia Ridge in 1991.

Roma Street Parkland redevelopment

In February 1995,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Wayne Goss Wayne Keith Goss (26 February 1951 – 10 November 2014) was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over 32 years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solicitor, an ...

announced the railway goods yard would be redeveloped as parkland. Construction began in 2000 with the parkland opened to the public in 2001. The design of the new park was created by a landscape architecture and urban design consortium called 'PARC' lead by Mark Fuller (Gillespies), Lawrie Smith (Landplan), Malcolm Middleton (DEM Design) and Joe Hruda (Civitas). The project won its first award before it had opened: a commendation in the Cement and Concrete Association of Australia Streetsmart awards for the innovative concrete finishes created by the use of coloured concrete and an apparently random pattern of rough cast concrete generated by the formworkers which makes the finish appear to change through the day depending on the angle of the sun and the length of shadows cast by the detailing on the walls. The technique was created through a design and construction collaboration between project designers PARC, managing contractor

Abigroup Abigroup was an Australian construction company. History Abigroup was established as Graham Evans & Co in 1957 as a civil engineering company within New South Wales, being renamed Abignano in 1961. In 1981 it was listed on the Australian Securit ...

and the Queensland Department of Public Works. Brisbane's Indian community commissioned a statue of Gandhi, created by Ram V. Sutar and Anil Sutar. It was unveiled by

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, then Prime Minister of India in 2014, during the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

Amphitheatre

Roma Street Parkland has an open-air

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, previously known as the Albert Park Amphitheatre, which had been a feature of Albert Park for a number of decades before the Roma Street Parkland was established. Outdoor film exhibitor Moonlight Cinema holds a licence to operate an outdoor cinema experience within the park, offering hot food, beverages, film festivals, and many other activities during summer months annually. From lively music festivals and cultural celebrations to family-friendly markets and educational workshops, there's always something happening to engage and entertain visitors of all ages.Plays are performed at the ''Amphitheatre'' by the

Queensland Theatre Company Queensland Theatre, formerly the Queensland Theatre Company and Royal Queensland Theatre Company, is a professional theatre company based in Brisbane, Australia. It regularly performs in its own Bille Brown Theatre and the Queensland Performin ...

, and the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, as well as by other theatre groups, with many plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

having been performed at the amphitheatre. The convenient access to the Amphitheatre is through Wickham Terrace near M.K. Gandhi statue. Other theatre productions, including orchestral concerts, have also been performed there. One such concert, in which the music was by

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a violinist. He compose ...

, was called "''Strauss Beneath the Stars''", which was presented in October 1983. The

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

's Christmas Carols and Brisbane's

Carols by Candlelight Carols by Candlelight is an annual Australian Christmas tradition that was popularised in Melbourne in 1938. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by candlel ...

concerts were held at the Albert Park Amphitheatre before Riverstage was built in the

City Botanic Gardens The City Botanic Gardens (formerly the Brisbane Botanic Gardens) is a heritage-listed botanic garden on Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was also known as Queen's Park. It is located on Gardens Poi ...

Awards

Roma Street Parkland is one of five locations in Australia to hold the 2022/2023 Green Flag Award, an international accreditation given to the world's best green spaces.

Gallery

File:Roma Street Parkland mosaic map.jpg, Mosaic map of the park File:Map of Roma Street Parkland 052013 555.jpg, Map of the park File:Furn Gully, Roma Street Parkland 052013 500.jpg, Fern Gully File:Water feature, Roma Street Parkland 052013 512.jpg, Water feature File:Lizard, Roma Street Parkland 052013 533.jpg, Eastern water dragon in the park. File:Rainbow Lorikeet in Roma Street Parklands - Brisbane.jpg,

Rainbow lorikeet The rainbow lorikeet (''Trichoglossus moluccanus'') is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Six ...

(''Trichoglossus haematodus'') in the parklands. File:Eastern Water Dragon 20140125.jpg, Juvenile Eastern water dragon in the park. File:Brushtail Possum IMG 5005.jpg,

Common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Ancient Greek, Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae ...

in the park. File:Black Flying Fox eating palm tree.jpg, Black flying fox – ''Pteropus alecto'' – feeding on a palm tree in the parklands. File:Carpet_Python_-_Andrew_Mercer_-_DSC07078.jpg, Cuddles the

Carpet Python ''Morelia spilota'', commonly known as the carpet python, is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands. Many subspecies are rec ...

local resident in the Spectacle Garden. File:Roma Street Parklands Preparation.jpg, Roma Street Parklands in c. 2000 before construction began

References

External links

Roma Street Parkland
– Official website
Roma Street Parkland
– History of Roma Street Parkland * — Description of Albert Park in 1886 {{coord, 27.463, S, 153.019, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Parks in Brisbane History of Brisbane Roma Street, Brisbane