This is Alexandra’s Rotary Park. It is the central parkland for the town and is also home to the Visitor Information Centre. Over the years the park had additional features, paths and garden beds installed and in time the park had become a hotchpotch.
The immediate priority in creating the new design was to increase the visibility of the Visitor Information Centre. Garden beds were either removed or decreased in size. The tall eucalyptus trees remained but all the medium sized growth was removed and replaced with lower growing plants.
The path into the park was narrow and often had garden plants impeding parts the flow of pedestrian traffic. The path was widened and allowed visitors to walk two to three abreast through the park. The in path was also extended into a horse shoe shape that increased the sense of flow and free movement through the space. It also left a round lawn in the centre that with a little more soil created an attractive mounded space that can either be an effective meeting space or a beautiful place to stop and stay.
The third important change was providing seating for the visitors. It was important to encourage visitors to stop and stay rather than just ‘pass-through’. Due to the limited budget, mudstone rocks and timber stumps were installed. They make excellent low maintenance seating as well as providing as pleasing visual texture to compliment the plants and paths.
