Wednesday, 17 November 2010

The " Village Green " ?

What can be done with McCabe park ? At the moment it is a prime piece of land in the middle of Wollongong, broadly ignored by residents because it is a dangerous place at night - and rather boring during daylight hours.

It certainly has potential - provided we can get our heads around the necessity of introducing commercial activity to make it interesting and to get people to use it.

Perhaps a top class restaurant - similar to " The Lagoon " ? Perhaps kiosks selling such pleasures as ice cream, hot chips and sandwiches ? Perhaps an open air movie house similar to the " drive-in " era - but without motor cars ?

The sticking point is likely to be opposition to allowing commerce into a " people's park ", but then what is the use of a vacant piece of land if the public declines to make use of it ?

Surely we can learn something from the debacle that is the Wollongong Mall ! A place that is totally deserted once the shops close - and where citizens literally take their life in their hands if they visit after dark.

People will only use McCabe park if it has something to offer. It must become a " place to go " because there is something to see - and something to do - and people feel safe going there !

And that will only happen when commercial interests feel confident to spend their money to provide such attractions - and make a profit from them.

Dragging McCabe park into the twenty-first century is really that simple !

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