Iconic Civic Park is the green heart of the inner city, located proudly between Newcastle City Hall, the Newcastle Art Gallery and the Newcastle Regional Library. It offers large shady trees, tiered garden beds, war memorials, and expanses of lawn perfect for impromptu picnics.
Once coal mining land, the 2.5-hectare space was passed into public hands and opened for community use in 1937. On her visit to Newcastle in 1970, Queen Elizabeth opened the Captain Cook Memorial Fountain designed by the late modernist sculptor Margel Ina Hinder. With its arresting parabolic arcs of water, the fountain is a favourite backdrop for photographers.
