Yarra City Council has officially opened the new Cambridge Street Reserve, Collingwood.
Yarra City Council Mayor, Claudia Nguyen, and fellow Yarra City Councillors were joined by award-winning sculptor, William Eicholtz to officially open the new park.
At double the size, with extensive park seating and a large lawn space which is shaded by native trees, Cambridge Street Reserve is now the largest park in Collingwood.
Yarra City Council Mayor Claudia Nguyen expressed her excitement for the completion of this project:
“We asked the community what they wanted, and we made sure their feedback led the design process.”
“This park is inclusive and accessible, play is integrated into the design of the park, we’ve included a swing, some bike infrastructure and even a dog bowl for our furry friends”.
“With only 0.3 percent of open space, we knew that we needed to find creative ways of delivering vital open space for the Collingwood community.”
The park features stainless steel and fibreglass sculptures called ‘Close Knit’ created by Eicholtz.
The work references the iconic ‘Aussie’ backyard, symbolized by washing on a Hills Hoist with strong themes of domesticity and handcrafts.
These concepts were transposed into several elements, including 2 large flying jumper sculptures and then featured in knitted concrete garden walls throughout the gardens, along with balls of wool to mark gateways and entrances to the park.
Yarra delivered Cambridge Street Reserve in partnership with the Victorian Government, who have supported the project with $1.3m funding. Yarra City Council has invested a further $731,130 towards the project.
Our commitment to the Yarra community is to pursue creative ways to deliver precious open space. We continue to advocate to the Victorian Government for support to create more parks in Yarra.
With Otter Street Pocket Park and Charlotte Street Pocket Park coming soon, keep your eyes peeled for more fabulous open space projects right here in Yarra.
