What Council wants for Fitzroy Gardens

Council has revealed a design for the renovation of Fitzroy gardens in Kings Cross, site of the famous El Alamein Fountain. It is a concept plan, still lacking final details. It has merit, but questions remain about any real reason for the $6 million project besides the pursuit of newness for its own sake.

The park proper would be flattened out and edged by slopes rather than walls. The hexagonal brick planters around the tree-gardens would be removed, the palm grove dismantled and the palms re-planted in two straight lines. The nearby giant yucca tree seems destined for the chop and all paving would be replaced.

A ‘promenade’ would be built past the police station, running from Macleay Street down an even slope to Elizabeth Bay Road, following the original alignment of that road which once joined Macleay St. It would replace the current terraced route with its short flight of steps and access ramp.

The sloped edges would allow more pathways in and out of the park, especially on the north side in front of the Post Office, where an apparently unfenced children’s playground would be built.

The Gardens would be finished first, followed by a rebuild of nearby Lawrence Hargreaves Reserve, an ambiguous area above the Kings Cross Carpark that could definitely do with a makeover.

The Police station, built in the 1980s, was described at the public meeting by designer Sue Barnsley as “uniformly ugly on all sides.” It would be screened by a row of trees, and the nearby robotic public toilet would be upgraded.

The low convict brick wall to the rear of the park will stay, somewhere, says Council. And the locally created bronze bust of Bernie Houghton, notorious owner of neighbouring historical venues the Bourbon and Beefsteak and the Texas Tavern, also awaits curatorial input and may yet be relocated in the park. There was no comment about the fate of the multiple-city destination sign near the fountain. Although it is very popular with tourists, who photograph it all the time, it’s unlikely that its artistic merits will impress a curator.

The markets
Council says the weekend markets could keep operating in Fitzroy Gardens because only half the area would be worked at one time. But this would still impact on the markets, first because the sheer ugliness of construction sites repels people and secondly because the markets would presumably be relegated to the rear area away from Macleay St while the front section was being built.

One hopes there would be no plans for work on weekends, at least sparing the markets and neighbouring residents the incessant din. But this would also extend the construction time.

Plans for Lawrence Hargeave Reserve

The draft concept for this problematic space, now used as a dog run and little else, proposes to shave off the top floor of the carpark which needs complete refurbishment including a new ventilation system.

Lowering the roof would open up Amos Lane on its south side, now enclosed by flats on one side and an ugly wall on the other.

A carpark infrastructure building and a kiosk is suggested for the northern edge, and a community garden would be allowed if the community organises it.

The plan would reduce parking in Kings Cross, something that local businesses and residents who park there permanently will have problems with.

These proposals entail far more complex work than for Fitzroy Gardens and will be subject to a lengthy review process.

by Michael Gormly

Have your say

You can comment on the proposal online here at the City of Sydney site. Go to Development, City Improvements, Parks and Gardens.

Or at Council’s stall at the Saturday markets or via hard-copy at Kings Cross Council Centre, 50–52 Darlinghurst Rd or at Level 2, Town Hall House, 456 Kent Street in the city.