Occupying a rectangular block to the north-east of Launceston’s city centre are the leafy walkways and landscaped gardens of City Park. Established in the early 19th century as a botanic garden, today it forms an important part of recreational and cultural life for the local citizens as a heritage-listed green space.
City Park is home to themed landscaped gardens, mature trees and flowers, as well as a pond inhabited by ducks and a children’s playground. Visitors will find a giant chess board and numerous statues and monuments, including the Boer War Memorial and tribute to Tasmanian botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn. A Japanese macaque monkey enclosure houses a collection of these cheeky primates, while the John Hart Conservatory exhibits a range of tropical species. Elegant Albert Hall is the park’s most prominent building and the city’s premier performance venue, while local bands often present free live music during the warm summer months. The studios of City Park Radio lie to the south of Albert Hall, together with the Tasmanian Design Centre in the southwestern corner. City Park also serves as an important gathering place for cultural events, including the annual food and wine event, Festivale.
City Park can easily be accessed by public buses which stop on Brisbane Street to the west or it’s just a short walk from the CBD. Since “Little Toot” first took visitors for rides in 1960, brightly painted small trains have circled City Park, and this remains a popular way to explore today.
City Park was first established in the 1820s by the Launceston Horticultural Society on a plot of land adjacent to the Government Cottage gardens. After initially being designed as botanic gardens, they were handed over to the Launceston City Council in 1863 to create a “People’s Park”, with the Albert Hall built on its northeastern corner in 1891.