Soroptimist Park is a foreshore park located in the suburb of Rowes Bay, Townsville,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Attractions

It contains lawns,

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...

areas, shade areas and an adventure playground, specifically designed to be suitable for all children, including those with disabilities. The park also contains some attractive Australian sculptures, added in 1988 as an

Australian Bicentennial The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

project. Further public art, in the form of

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

tile works, were completed in 1994 as part of the International Year of the Child. The club of

Soroptimist International Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volunteer organiza ...

of Townsville Inc. was the instigator of Soroptimist Park.Parks Services - Townsville City Council
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History

In 1979 the land on which the park stands was gazetted as a future Adventure Playground. The Soroptimist International Club Townsville (SIT) made application to develop the site. This was achieved when in 1984 the Federal Government introduced Community Employment Programs (C.E.P.) and awarded $130,000 to the club who worked with the Council’s Parks Dept. Because the park was designed to benefit children with disabilities donations became tax deductible and materials sales tax exempt. Twelve unemployed workers, strictly in categories, male, female, handicapped and indigenous were recruited to work on the project. CEP guidelines allowed no machinery to be used and the project was guided by a leading-hand foreman (a skilled stonemason) and supervised by the Soroptimists. Careful planning and operation ensured minimal disruption to the character of the land. Irrigation equipment was installed by hand and 750 meters of winding concrete paths wide enough for two wheelchairs to pass were mixed and poured by hand. A center line brick track assisted the visually disabled and graphic

Soroptimist International

is a worldwide organization for women in management and professions, working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women
Soroptimist , Soroptimist International

Gallery

Image:Dusk at Rowes Bay, Townsville.jpg, Dusk at Soroptimist Park, Rowes Bay; looking northwards to

Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park The Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park is a protected conservation park located north-east of Townsville in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. The regional park is located within the suburb of Pallarenda. Attractions There are s ...

. Image:Rowes Bay, Townsville - detail of public art.jpg, Detail of public art sculpture, Soroptimist Park, Rowes Bay, Queensland. Image:Soroptimist Park Mosaics - Public Art.JPG, Mosaic public art in the park.

References

{{Reflist Parks in Queensland Townsville