Roma Street Parkland, Public park in Brisbane, Australia
Roma Street Parkland is an 11-hectare garden in central Brisbane built on the former railway goods yard. It has themed gardens, cascading waterways and rocky outcrops linked by paths and boardwalks, including a curved grey timber boardwalk along a dark waterway that ends at a small platform with a red canopy roof on green posts. Sixteen local artists made in-situ artworks for the site.
The site was part of the original Brisbane settlement in 1825 and became a railway terminal in 1875, growing into a major goods yard between 1911 and 1934. In 1920, excavation removed 554,300 cubic metres of earth, creating the artificial escarpment. The yard closed in 1991, and in February 1995 Premier Wayne Goss announced its redevelopment as parkland; construction began in 2000 and the park opened in 2001.
The park's name comes from Roma Street railway station beside it, though the park does not front Roma Street itself. The open-air amphitheatre, formerly the Albert Park Amphitheatre, hosts plays by the Queensland Theatre Company and the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, and Moonlight Cinema screens films there in summer. A Gandhi statue by Ram V. Sutar and Anil Sutar, unveiled by Narendra Modi in 2014, stands near the Wickham Terrace entrance.
Most areas remain open 24 hours daily, though specific garden zones have restricted hours from sunrise to sunset. Plan visits during daylight when all sections are accessible and conditions are best for walking.
The concrete retaining walls were cast with coloured concrete and a rough-cast pattern set by the formworkers, so the finish shifts with the angle of the sun and the length of shadows through the day. The technique earned a commendation in the Cement and Concrete Association of Australia Streetsmart awards before the park opened in 2001.
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