MacCabe Park is a small park located in the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

, Australia. It is commonly misspelt McCabe Park, though the sign has since been changed to its correct name. In 1855 a land grant was made to Governor Brown, the present site of the park. Nike by Ken Unsworth

It contains a playground at the north east corner of the rectangular area covered by the park, the local

youth centre A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vid ...

is in the north west side, and a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

called "Nike" is found in this area amidst a garden area. The youth centre has a small skating area and sometimes ramps and kickers are brought out, with a small number of fastened ramps present. The centre's walls are covered with graffiti and murals. A small strip of native plants and trees is present on the edge of the skating area. The northeastern area features a council operated art gallery and a war memorial, featuring a planted area and a canon. The west part of the park area features shops like Dick Smith bordering a narrow

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

underneath and between

climbing plants A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

. In the gaps between shops palm trees have been planted. Paths are present in the park and most of it is lawn grass. The southern end contains a man-made hillock with a smaller peak to its northern end and a larger slightly higher one at its southern end, with a circular

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) 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 ...

of brick. In the southeastern and northwestern parts of the park are covered paths. In the eastern area is a community hall and carpark. The hall features a mural depicting a famous scene from E.T. The park area is surrounded by streets, the east side borders

Church Street, Wollongong Church Street is a main north-south running street in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It contains many of Wollongong's well known and lesser known attractions and historic sites. To the north it runs from the northern high ris ...

, the west side borders Keira Street, the north borders Burelli Street, and the southern end borders Ellen Street. The park is located in the southern part of Wollongong's central business district, only two blocks from

Wollongong Central Wollongong Central is a large shopping centre in the Wollongong CBD in the llawarra region. It is located along Crown Street which the main road of Wollongong. Transport Wollongong railway station is a five minute walk from the centre. Wol ...

and Wollongong Mall. Plants in the park include palms, a few native

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s, grass plants, small grey leafed shrubs and a small planting of

casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fa ...

s south of the amphitheatre.

Wollongong City Council The City of Wollongong is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea, the Princes Motorway and the Illawarra railway line. Located south of Sydney central busi ...

has had a policy in place since 1990 to purchase the commercial properties surrounding the park as they become available. Eventually, these commercial buildings will be demolished to expand the public open space.

References

{{Coord, -34.4318, 150.8929, format=dms, type:landmark_region:AU-NSW, display=title Wollongong Urban public parks Parks in New South Wales