CBD’s first new park in 40 years

By Marco Holden Jeffery

The first new park in the CBD in 40 years is nearing completion on Market St at the foot of the Collins Arch development. 

In a promotional video for the project, Lord Mayor Sally Capp said it was more important than ever that Melburnians had access to “green, open spaces”.

“As a growing city, we need to make sure for our residents, workers, students and visitors that we have lovely spaces for people to enjoy,” she said. 

The 1900 sqm open space - the first of its kind since City Square was built in 1980 - would include terraced lawns, tree coverage, a city garden, seating, a new bluestone pathway and a “playful terrace” area.

“It’s incredibly rare to have the opportunity to design a public park of this size in the central city,”  Cr Capp said.

The City of Melbourne flagged opportunities for programmed events and performances in the park’s central plaza once health restrictions permitted.

The project repurposed 1300 sqm of roadway on Market St to build the park as well as new parking spaces and a designated bicycle lane.

The Market St roadway would also only accommodate single direction southbound traffic after the council found works on Collins Arch weren’t affecting traffic flow through the city.

The 42-storey Collins Arch skyscraper, which includes a mixed residential and commercial building along with a Marriott W Melbourne hotel due to open in December 2020, was recently completed. 

The council was yet to announce a completion date for construction on the park but Cr Capp said, “more than 100 people are working on the project to get it completed as quickly as possible.” •