The official opening of Dave Taylor Park

November 1, 2024

This article was first published by The Area News on 31st Oct 2024  Click here to view the full article.

Dave Taylor Park receives new lease on life with grand opening

The next step in the Griffin Green project – a shiny new Dave Taylor Park was unveiled in a celebration to round out October.

The Griffin Green Youth and Community Park opened as a redevelopment of Dave Taylor Park – and features a green common area, a playground, gym, a yarning circle and a basketball court decorated with art by Aboriginal artist Karissa Undy.

Ms Undy explained that her design symbolised coming together as a community, welcoming others and visitors to the space. Handprints from the community and nearby residents create an additional sense of ownership.

The redevelopment came from a $1.48 million grant from the NSW Government’s Regional Youth Investment Program, as well as a partnership between the state government, Griffith City Council and Argyle Housing.

10-year-old Niko Vecchio said that he was looking forward to going to the park ‘heaps’ now that the redevelopment was officially opened, and mother Skye Lucas agreed.

“They came over back when they did the handprints, and they’ve been on me about that,” she said.

“I thought I’d bring them over for this opening … we’ll definitely come back.”

Argyle Housing CEO Carolyn Doherty said that she was pleased to be able to give something back to the community, after the community support months of work developing the Griffin Green Housing Project.

“I’m feeling fantastic. It’s a really important day for us today, to be able to come and open this park to the community means so much to us,” she said.

“We spend a lot of time working in this community and we’ve had tremendous support from the community so it’s amazing for us to be able to give something back.”

Member for Murray Helen Dalton spoke highly of the basketball court in particular, and encouraged young people to hit the courts and play some games.

“We know they will, because even the old court, they were out on it and this new one is something else.”

Next on the list for Argyle Housing is a community centre opposite the park, scheduled to open in December 2024 or January 2025 – ready to host workshops, community groups, meetings and more.

The name of the centre was unveiled at the park, following a naming competition won by Jacinta Simpson – out of 17 submissions in total.

The name will be ‘Ngumbaaydyil’ – a Wiradjuri word meaning ‘All together in one place.’