March 8, 2017
Pressure to get Kingaroy’s Memorial Park into good shape for this Saturday’s Wine & Food In The Park Festival is building.
On Wednesday, South Burnett Regional Council employees were hard at work installing new raised flower beds near the park’s main gate at the corner of William and Haly streets.
The new flower beds have replaced the former ground-level beds which had deteriorated over the years.
They are part of a $65,000 refurbishment of the Memorial Park rotunda area, which has been funded by a government grant.
Mayor Keith Campbell said the rotunda, which was built in 1923 as a memorial to the servicemen and women who fought in World War I, was the focal point of the town’s Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services.
“It’s a Kingaroy icon, and the complex has been added to over the years by the RSL and Council because of the significant role it plays in commemorations,” he said.
“It’s also not surprising that after close to a century serving the town, many people have formed a strong emotional attachment to it.”
The new raised garden beds use similar stone to existing parts of the memorial area and were especially chosen to integrate with it.
“By Anzac Day when they’ve been planted, people entering the park will feel the new garden beds are an intrinsic part of the whole thing,” Mayor Campbell said.
The Mayor said that in addition to the garden beds, Council workers have also carried out repairs to the rotunda’s roof and attended to other structural issues.
However, he was well aware that up to 6000 people would be coming to Memorial Park for Saturday’s annual festival.
So while the new garden beds won’t be planted by then, they’ll be installed and the entrance will be cleaned up to ensure there are no obstructions for visitors.
[UPDATED Originally published as “Rotunda Complex Gets New Gardens”]
