F.S. Garside returns after a multi-million-dollar facelift
F.S. Garside Park’s transformation into a multi-purpose facility for the entire community to enjoy is now complete, with the park officially opening on Wednesday.
The popular North Granville Park now boasts a BMX pump track, multi-use sports court, flying fox, new playground including nature play, climbing structures, swings and play tower, picnic and barbecue facilities, semi-professional football field and grandstand due to $17 million in funding from the NSW Government.
City of Parramatta chief executive Ms Gail Connolly PSM said it marks a new era for the North Granville community.
“This park is for everyone – it’s a new chapter for F.S. Garside and we’re excited to see it fully restored for a new generation of young families and people to enjoy,” Ms Connolly said.
The park’s sporting field will remain closed as the grass continues to establish roots and is expected to open to the public in late 2024.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the NSW Government has invested a combined $17 million in funding to support new and existing houses and units in the precinct with grant funding from the NSW Government’s Parramatta Road Urban Amenity Improvement Program (PRUAIP) and the Accelerated Infrastructure Fund.
“This former landfill site has been transformed with more than 15,600 tonnes of contaminated soil removed to create an outstanding facility to be enjoyed by the broader North Granville community for generations to come,” Minister Scully said.
The $17 million F.S. Garside remediation and upgrade has been proudly funded by the NSW Government with $12 million from the Parramatta Road Urban Amenity Improvement Program (PRUAIP) and an additional $5 million from the NSW Government’s Accelerated Infrastructure Fund.
The park was closed in 2019 to remediate the site and allow for construction work to take place as part of this project.
Semi-professional level football field suitable to hold ticketed sporting events.
Football NSW looks forward to welcoming the historic venue back into the fold.
F.S. Garside was the home of Football NSW League Two Men’s side Granville Rage before the venue was closed in 2019 for redevelopment.
Following on from this year’s wet season that we’ve recently experienced, a brand-new facility with a quality surface, drainage and irrigation is welcomed by football. Facilities of this nature will assist in reducing the number of games washed out in the future such is the positive impact the recent refurb to F.S. Garside will have on the football community.
About F.S. Garside Park
Historic records show that after F.S. Garside operated as a local landfill site up in the early 1900s. It was converted to a football field in the 1930s by placing a deep compacted soil layer over the landfill with a grass layer planted over the capped landfill site. This makes it one of the City’s oldest recreation spaces.
The park was originally named Macarthur Park after John Macarthur, a British Army Officer and pioneer of the Australian wool industry. The name changed to F.S. Garside in honour of long serving Granville District Soccer Football Association president Frank Sydney Garside in 1964.
