Sign at Showground Park, Nudgee.
Showground Park in Nudgee is a little park near the train line on Hayden Street, with the historic old building for the Nudgee School of Arts adjacent. While I was only there for five minutes and saw very few people, I left wondering why there were so few people there, and whether the old school of arts building had other uses. This old building has photos
linked here on pages that summarise the park. However, I realised I could illustrate some finer points about the park, that make it quite an interesting 'discovery'. It's an important point that the subbranch location for Banyo RSL, as shown here at
rslbrisbanenorth.org/rsl-qld/banyo-rsl-sub-branch , it's the adjacent school of arts building's main use, so there is highly likely a good use for the park when the RSL subbranch is open, as shown on those webpages.
Basketball half court at Showground Park, Nudgee.
The combinations of the path through the park, adequate day out facilities such as a playground, barbeques, half-court basketball and shade and taps mean that the park was a bit more than just lawn and trees, however, the lack of washroom facilities may be a good reason for why people weren't gathering there. I can fill in the blanks and say it is highly useful for people who might be attending events in the old school of arts building, yet, less useful if that building is closed. There was a barbeque there, pictured below, but overall, the park had a fairly pleasant atmosphere, the path across in the middle was nice, for people out walking, and I found it overall to be a nice addition to my Brisbane experiences, I think sometimes you have to find new things in your home town, so that was quite a pleasant place to stumble across. The fig trees really make the place much more colourful and picturesque, so I left a photo below to highlight that.
Barbeque at Showground Park, Nudgee.
Playground at Showground Park, Nudgee.
An
official history is outlined here of the heritage school of arts building, and that shows its significance as a community gathering venue in the 1900s. On the map, these parklands are opposite Nudgee Railway Station and Nudgee Reserve, and indeed I saw Shorncliffe line city trains go past. I wasn't there long yet was able to find parking was fine anyway, as the streets were fairly empty, but my only issue was lack of washrooms, hence, it's more suitable for events at the hall or for locals to pass by. But by all means, for a little bit of Brisbane history, do stop on by, as there are many other things to do in the area, with close proximity to Nudgee Beach, ACU University, Boondall and yes, public transport is pretty easy access, at least by train on the Shorncliffe line.
All images courtesy of author taken on February 13 2021.
Best fig tree of the park, Showground Park, Nudgee, (beside old school of arts - now RSL).
