ICONIC, jewel, treasure.
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These are all words to describe Cook Park.
When we found out it was being considered for the State Heritage Register, we thought it was more than fitting.
In fact, it was surprising it has not made the list already.
It turns out this has taken years of work, including staff from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and Orange City Council’s heritage consultant, David Scobie, and was a goal for the park’s management plan.
Their efforts have made clear what to most people might seem like simply a pretty and well-maintained park in the middle of Orange is actually a lot more.
There are nods to Orange’s history everywhere, from the Daltons’ fountain and rotunda to the fernery, which was completed as a regional growth project in the depths of the Depression in the 1930s.
In fact, many projects in the park kept residents busy during those troubled years.
The German gun on the northeast corner, recovered during World War I, was found by a battalion with several of its members hailing from Orange.
Before anything was even planted, it was an essential facility for the travelling horse and cattle bullocks hauling goods around the region.
Many people may be unaware the rose garden was once a duck pond before it was dedicated to a former town clerk, or simply never realised the Union Jack design of the pathways is fairly typical of a Victorian-style garden.
Cook Park is one of several parks across the region of this style.
Sadly, few remain intact, but ours is one of the lucky ones.
This is why it’s so important for people to get behind the listing.
While the council is behind the park and its four staff members can be seen every day caring for its many and ever-changing flowerbeds, this will ensure this remains the case.
A state heritage listing would require NSW Heritage Council involvement in major changes.
It will be essential for the state government to continue to allow day-to-day maintenance.
When they think of Orange, people from across the state remember Cook Park.
Let’s make sure they will continue to remember and revisit for years to come.