Information AboutToowong |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TOOWONG, QUEENSLAND | |
| suburbs of brisbane | |
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Toowong, Queensland , Australia , is a suburb 5 km from the centre of Brisbane positioned between the Brisbane River and Mount Coot-tha . A commercial precinct located at the southern end of the suburb near the Brisbane River is a significant commercial centre in western Brisbane. It contains a significant shopping centre and several office buildings. The remainder of the suburb is predominantly residential with a mix of medium density dwellings and detached houses. The Workshops and a bus Depot of Brisbane Transport , a wholly owned business of the Brisbane City Council is located at the western end of the suburb. HISTORY In 1861 the McDougall pastoral lease, which extended to Moggill, was broken up and sold. Several early settlers subdivided their blocks, including Richard Drew who named his subdivision the 'Village of Toowong' in 1865. Toowong started developing with the arrival of the Ipswich railway line in 1875. It was originally suburb of detached villas and large yards owned by an elite upper-middle class that worked in the city and socialised with each other. As access to the suburb improved with regular train services the population increased. The Shire of Toowong was created in 1880, in response to a petition from Toowong residents. In 1881 the population numbered 1,275 and seven years later it had almost doubled to 2,230. By 1901 the population numbered around 4,700. In 1903 the Brisbane Tramways Company built a tram line along Milton Road to service the western side of the suburb. Initially the tram line terminated at the cemetery, but was later extended up Dean Street, to the home of the then Manager of the tram company Joseph Stillman Badger . In 1922 , along with the rest of Brisbane's tram system, the line was taken over by the government (see Brisbane Transport .) The tram line closed in December 1962, after the disastrous Paddington Tram Depot Fire . In 1903 the shire of Toowong was also gazetted as a town and it retained this status until it was subsumed into the City of Greater Brisbane in 1925 (see Brisbane City Council , History Of Brisbane .) LANDMARKS =Brisbane General Cemetery at Toowong The Brisbane General Cemetery at Toowong, established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875, is Queensland’s largest cemetery, placed on 437,300 square metres of land. It replaced Brisbane’s first cemetery which was located near Skew Street in the centre of Brisbane. The cemetery contains a sign posted walk that provides information on various people buried in the cemetery. =Brisbane Boys College =Regatta Hotel ''See: Regatta Hotel, Brisbane .'' =Royal Exchange Hotel = Toowong Village :Built in 1986, Toowong Village is an office tower and shopping centre situated at the centre of Toowong on the block of land bounded by Coronation Drive, High Street and Sherwood Road. The blue glass office tower is a prominent landmark visible from Toowong and surrounding suburbs. The shopping centre is situated on the lower levels of the office tower and contains the Toowong Railway Station , Brisbane City Library and the standard mix of retail stores.
=Botanic Gardens and Planetarium Mount Coot-tha 's Brisbane Botanic Gardens and the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium are also part of Toowong. =Toowong Pool (Demolished) The Toowong pool was demolished in 2003, with development of apartments on the site planned and due to start development in the near future. =Toowong Library (Original) The original Toowong Municipal Library was built 1961 on Coronation Drive and was the district library for the western suburbs. The library was designed by Brisbane City Chief Architect James Birell, and the library is one of the few remaining examples of his work. The library site comprises a two storey library surrounded by trees and landscaped terraces. The library comprises a cavity brick lower floor, the plan of which is formed by three intersecting circles. Above this base floor is a ‘floating’ crystalline form with 12 sided polygon (dodecagon) floor plan whose external walls taper outward as they rise and which houses the principal public floor of the library. The external steel wall framing of the upper floor is diagonally crossed, or braced, and sheeted with plywood panels set within the structural framing and framed with silky oak beading. The library was threatened for closure in 1982 following the opening of a new municipal library at Indooroopilly in 1981. The Toowong Library did in fact close but local residents’ action saw it re-opened in 1983. Alterations were made to the building in 1983 when one of the rooms on the lower floor was acquired for use by the local councillor as a ward office. Despite a campaign by local residents to prevent the closure of the library and redevelopment of the library and adjoining swimming pool site, the library was moved to Toowong Village shopping centre in March 2001, and the original building is now used by the local councillor as a ward office. =Toowong Memorial Park Located on Sylvan Road, Toowong Memorial Park is a large park with gum trees, football ovals and a commanding view of the suburb. It was officially opened in 1918 in honour of those who enlisted from the Town of Toowong during the World War I . The park contains:
=ANZAC Park Anzac Park is located next to the Western Freeway opposite the Toowong Cemetery. Originally the land was part of the cemetery grounds, but was converted to a rifle range in 1877. At the end of World War I the trees were planted in memory of the men from Toowong. The park land was proposed as a site for the Botanic Gardens, but the construction of the Western Freeway forced the move of the proposed site to its current location closer to Mount Coot-tha. TRANSPORT Toowong is a significant transport node. The Toowong Train Station is located under Toowong Village . Trains connect the suburb with the city and other western suburbs. Buses serving the western suburbs travel along Coronation Drive from the city, and towards the University Of Queensland . There is a CityCat stop located outside the Regatta Hotel on Coronation Drive. NEIGHBOURING SUBURBS
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