Awaba Park at Hamilton has staged its first public event since the open space underwent a major overhaul aimed at improving amenity and public safety in the area.
The Hamilton Business Improvement Association staged a Hawker Street Markets in the station-side park on Beaumont Street on Saturday night, September 12, with live music, local traders and family attractions.
The recurring event was staged earlier in the year on the busy Hamilton strip, inspired by Asian street cuisine and night market atmosphere.
Gypsy Donovan and Rowan Bullen had just had their portraits sketched by one of the event's roving performers, and were deciding which vendors to try first, as families filled the park into the night.
One long communal table stretched into the open space, overhung with neon lights and framed by an enticing cacophony for the senses from vendors on both sides.
"I remember when this was all boarded up because I came to drop my sister off to go to school," Ms Donovan said.
"So coming and actually seeing it open is really nice, and the atmosphere tonight is beautiful."
Families lounged on beanbags and mats spread on the lawn, still lumpy with seams where it had been laid, as the park filled with ever more visitors.
Performer Katie Lieberfury was the event's 'lollipop lady', distributing free lollipops for children in a big Cheshire Cat-inspired headpiece that she had crafted herself.
"Newcastle is one of those places where new pockets can pop up and you might live locally but have not be aware that it's happening," she said.
"It's good now that the park is open that we have all these people here."
The all-local menu was supplied by In Forno, Cakeboi, The Pho, Sushi Revolution and Darby Raj among other Beaumont Street offerings, in a roaming festival feast aimed at injecting new life into the area after renovations were completed last month.
The City of Newcastle and state government jointly backed a $290,000 overhaul of the park by Hamilton train station, aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour and improving public safety in the neighbourhood.
The redevelopment came alongside several other public safety reforms along the Beaumont Street strip, including additional police patrols, ramped-up social and homelessness awareness and outreach services, and a three-year CCTV trial, to curb escalating reports of antisocial behaviour in the area.
Awaba Park became the subject of calls for attention after reports of increased crime, drug use and vandalism. However, CCTV will not be installed there.
The measures follow a string of incidents and complaints from businesses and residents in the area of assaults, vandalism, break-ins and drug deals that had cast a pall on the eclectic street.
Awaba Park, or Hamilton Station Park as it's otherwise known, had fallen into disrepair over time.
Still, while the area had its troubles, it was also a staging ground for informal and grassroots community support.
The city's branch of the aid group Food Not Bombs had operated a free pantry, cabinets, community noticeboard and twice-weekly meal service at the park, and had raised concerns this year when construction had disrupted access to the emergency food supplies.
In a statement earlier this year, when the park was closed for construction, the group said the area had been neglected for years until volunteers and neighbours had been "filling the gaps".
The group has continued serving free meals for the neighbourhood's vulnerable and rough sleepers, and last month began doubling its schedule of meals with concurrent distribution nights.
A renewed permanent cabinet and community noticeboard, replicating the community pantry at the former site, was included as part of the upgrade.
Construction fences around Awaba Park came down last month, with Hamilton Business Improvement Association chair Kasey Pollard saying she hoped the area would become a gateway from the train station to all Beaumont Street has to offer.
"We really hope to capture this space and revitalise it all," Ms Pollard said.
"We hope to continue activating this space and bring more families here to use it in different ways that Hamilton can expect from us.
"Hopefully we can deliver and keep it as the fun, beautiful and colourful space that has now been created."
