General News
26 May, 2022
Old becomes new again
LIKE many local kids growing up in the 50s, John Cook and his friends enjoyed birthday parties, school picnics and Cubs activities in the Botanic Gardens.
LIKE many local kids growing up in the 50s, John Cook and his friends enjoyed birthday parties, school picnics and Cubs activities in the Botanic Gardens.
Mr Cook grew up on a farm at Gnotuk.
When the old rotunda in the gardens was dismantled in the 60s, his dad took some of the discarded floor tiles home to the farm.
This month Mr Cook brought the tiles back to the gardens in the hope that they can be used again when the rotunda is eventually rebuilt.
Camperdown Botanic Gardens and Arboretum Trust secretary Janet O’Hehir and Mr Cook stacked the old tiles in a corner of the potting shed.
“The rotunda was built in the gardens in 1879,” she said.
“Today you can only see the bluestone base where it used to be. It was at the highest point of the garden and had an ornate spiral staircase leading to a viewing platform.
“It would be a special feature to reinstate. We will be looking for a funding opportunity to rebuild the rotunda in the garden.”
Ms O’Hehir said the restoration of the rotunda would be a highlight in the ongoing wider restoration of the Botanic Gardens and Arboretum.