City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 2Preston provision of open space became an important issue after the development boom of the1920s.NorthcoteNorthcote Park was reserved on the Township of Northcote plan, and it was Northcote’s onlypublic recreation reserve set aside in the nineteenth century. The Northcote Park Cricket Clubused it from the 1880s. In the 1880s the Northcote Borough’s parks and gardens committeeprovided pathways and a pavilion, ‘well laid out flower plots, sparkling fountains and otheraccessories’, and planted exotic trees such as elms, poplars, pepper trees and willows. In 1903,after J. Ahern was appointed gardener, further plantings were made of oaks, sugar gums andblue Atlantic cedars. Ahern also improved the playing ground and upgraded the Park Lodge,which had been a former Toll House.As noted above, by 1906 Northcote Park remained the only open space in Northcote andtowards the end of that year the pressure to create more parks and reserves emerged in the localpress. The importance of the issue led to the Mayor calling a public meeting on the 7thDecember 1906 in the Town Hall, which was attended by between 70 and 100 people (ALM,2002:8). Mr. Beard, M.L.A., moved the first resolution:That in the interests of the health and recreation of present and future citizens of Northcote it isessential that reserves should be obtained, and that the council be urged to use its utmostendeavours to secure such spaces, more especially as the opportunities for doing so are rapidlybecoming less (ALM, 2002:8, cites Leader 15 December 1906).The resolution, supported by such people as the Vice-President of the National Council ofWomen in Victoria, Mrs. Strong, led the Council to acquire in 1907 the sites of two newreserves; what would become Batman Park, and Penders Park. As the population of Northcotegrew in the inter-war period additional reserves were needed and by 1933 the Northcote Council hadspent £18,760 acquiring areas for parks. As well as Batman Park and Pender’s Park, thisincluded Johnson Park (Bastings Street), Merri Park (St. George’s Road), Henderson Park(Murray Street), McDonell Park (Victoria Road), Mayer Park (Leinster Grove), Hayes Park(Flinders Street), Pearl Reserve (Shaftesbury Parade). In addition, there were children’splaygrounds on small reserves in Separation, Smith, Rathmines and Rennie Streets (ALM,2002).In the 1930s, Northcote Park was developed further. - rockeries were built and exotic palmtrees planted. The park was renamed the Oldis Gardens, in honour of the late Cr Albert Oldis,a local builder (‘Glimpses of our Past’, 1988:17). The park became the home ground of theNorthcote Football Club in the 1920s. In 1947, Northcote’s former star player, Doug Nichollsbecame the curator of the park and resided in a house provided at the park, combining the jobwith his work in the Aboriginal community (Lemon, 1983:202, 271). As noted in Chapter 4,the Croxton Park race track and sports ground was run in conjunction with the Croxton ParkHotel, and was home to the Northcote Football Club before it moved to the Northcote Park.The sports ground, which covered the area from Woolton Avenue to Kemp Street was sold forresidential development during the First World War.Parklands in PrestonAs most of the municipality of Preston was open farmland, little thought was given to the needfor parks until the suburban boom of the 1920s saw the vast open spaces succumbing tohousing estates. When Preston became a city in 1926 it had only 110 acres of parks, almosthalf of which consisted of Edwardes Park in the northern reaches of the municipality. The ovalin Cramer Street was a sporting venue for central Preston, and there were a few other areasreserved as parks, mainly on the creek flats (Forster, 1968:90).Cramer Street Oval, now known as Preston Oval, was acquired by the Shire in 1876 and hasbeen in continuous use for sport ever since, including the home ground of the Preston FootballClub (Forster, 1968:90, 108).80