{"id":423,"date":"2015-09-22T10:40:53","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T10:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meltropolis.com\/blog\/?p=423"},"modified":"2015-09-22T11:02:19","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T11:02:19","slug":"fair-dinkum-park-ingenuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.meltropolis.com\/blog\/fair-dinkum-park-ingenuity\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair Dinkum: Park Ingenuity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fair Dinkum: Aussie slang that means true, real, genuine.<\/p>\n

In 1998, I lived in Tasmania, Australia as an exchange student. I was 14. During my year abroad, I went on a two-week trip with 30 other exchange students through the center of Australia to Uluru (the big monolith). We drove and camped during our tour through the Outback.<\/p>\n

On this trip, one of the tour leaders was an emerging videographer\u2014in 1988\u2014and hauled with him a VHS cam recorder. You know, the gigantic boom box sized recorder\u00a0that was all the 80\u2019s rage. This tour leader edited over four hours of foreign teenagers being, well, teenagers on a once-in-life time adventure.<\/p>\n

At the time, a $100 was a lot to purchase the VHS Australian tour tapes, and then more money in the early 1990\u2019s to convert the tapes to U.S.VHS.<\/p>\n

For 27 years,\u00a0the tapes collected dust in some drawer, in the basement, at my parents. Earlier this year, I blew off the dust and converted these tour tapes to DVD.<\/p>\n

Oh the memories.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll spare you all of them except one\u2014the crazy playground. I never forgot this playground because the \u201cequipment\u201d was not your normal park equipment. For 27 years, I could not remember the name or the location of the park, until this past weekend.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, my husband and I joined Robin Boyle, my \u00a0Wayne State University urban planning professor, on a lovely dinner party to welcome his guest visiting from Melbourne, Australia. Rod is a retired Aussie city planner.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I asked Rod about my memories playing in this park, and then came home to convert the former VHS to DVD to Youtube video. Here is the brief info I assembled from Rod and the Googles:<\/p>\n

Seagull Paddock, Geelong, Adelaide, Australia<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the 1980\u2019s, the Ford Motor plant, located across from Deppler Park or Seagull Paddock, had financial troubles and laid off workers. Including welders.<\/p>\n

The newly unemployed welders used their welding skills to create play equipment\u2014or rides, whatever you think they are. The park location seems a\u00a0natural fit for former workers to display their skills, directly\u00a0across from the auto manufacturing plant in Deppeler Park. It’s clear\u00a0safety standards were an afterthought, and probably\u00a0why the park equipment was eventually removed in the early 1990’s.<\/p>\n

\"deppler<\/a>
Also known as Weir\u00a0Deppeler Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"seagull<\/a>
Seagull Paddock, www.geelongaustralia.com.au<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m curious how local folks came to erect structures of this magnitude in a public park and with clear safety issues. Nonetheless, the park was impressionable for any visitor climbing or riding on a play structure and clearly attracted\u00a0tour groups to explore the park, like ours. \u00a0Great parks attract people!<\/p>\n

Check out the\u00a0metal arts creativity and innovation:<\/p>\n