August 20, 2008
Anzac Park in east Tamworth is getting a facelift that includes new facilities and updating some old equipment, including toilets and barbecues.
The first bright new thing for Anzac Park is a Liberty Swing, which should be ready to use in days. It's a special wheelchair swing for young kids and is being installed near the existing children's playground on the Fitzroy St side.
According to horticulture manager Eric Budgen the most popular of Tamworth's parks is overdue for a good going over. The park is nearly 130 years old, although it's been only since about 1915 that it was anything other than just a clump of weeds and green space.
Now, it's more a building boom than a greening that the park is getting. Aside from the new swing, a couple of old barbecues will be removed and new and extra ones installed and the gazebo they sit in also given an airbrushing.
The Rotary First Light Club has taken on part of the job as a community project, funding four new electric barbies to sit with two older models in the park.
And a new Liberty swing should be all ready to go next week. The concrete pad, fencing and softfall base jobs have been done and the swing itself installed. The Liberty swing is specially adapted to take wheelchairs and gives young people with mobility-related disabilities the chance to experience the joy of swinging through the air.
Tamworth Access Group originally hit on the swing idea five years ago and lobbied council and others to go for it. The children's charity Variety sunk money into buying the swing, the combined Rotary clubs of Tamworth swung behind it to celebrate their centenary year, Joblink Plus added it to their work schedule, and Blue Dog Fences pitched in with some material help. The $50,000 swing project is also being supported by the Sir Roden Cutler Charities and other Tamworth community members.
As part of a new $150,000 public toilets program across TRC this year, Anzac Park will be first in line to get new loos along with priorities for replacements at Oxley Lookout and Queen St mall in Barraba.
Anzac Park began life as Britten Park around 1881 but was renamed Anzac Park in 1927 when the war memorial gates commemorating World War 1 were built. It had been commonly referred to as the Anzac park from about 1920 when the annual march used to start from there.
It has been a tradition for children's birthday parties and family reunions for years and with its Anzac and Sandakan memorials attracts more visitors than any other park in the Tamworth region. It sees more than about 50 brides a year too - popular as both a wedding ceremony spot and a place to take wedding photos.