The Green Space update

The Green Space, at Jess Mitchell Park, Greenslopes St, is coming along and will be ready for planting for the winter vegie growing season. Down ‘n’ Dirty volunteers have been assisting us to develop this area with plenty of digging and removal of weeds, adding new soil and mulch and creating trial plots using various methods. With the slogan ‘Connecting people with people, and people with nature’, we will be off ering a variety of ways to connect with our volunteers and eventually the public. Last year we held ‘How to build a Wicking Bed’ workshops (see left). We aim to continue these in the near future.

Tracks ‘n’ Trails

Tracks ‘n’ Trails resumed this year and we were pleased to see our regular faces return together with a couple of new ones. They have spent their time clearing vegetation from the Red and Blue Arrows, and cleaning diversions and drains and track surfaces. Pictured: Right: Hiromi, Volunteers Offi cer Sarah and Phil making the Blue Arrow accessible by clearing fallen vegetation. Above: Kelsey, Russell and Hiromi spent a morning pruning back the Red Arrow bamboo after it had been damaged by wild weather associated with Tropical Cyclone Niran.

FroM SnaKe haVen to artS hotSPot Fledgling years of the Tanks Arts Centre

JaniCe PiCHon

When the Cairns City Council purchased the decommissioned World War II fuel depot in Edge Hill from the Commonwealth for $150,000 in 1991, the original plan was to extend the footprint of the botanic gardens. Little did councillors know that it would give rise to a unique and widely popular multi-arts hub.

Herpetologist’s delight

Before beginning its new life as a site for community arts, the area housing the wartime fuel tanks was known as a haven for reptiles. Snake collectors and hobbyists fossicked in the vicinity of the Tanks and around the base of Mount Whitfi eld. Two collectors from Mackay were regular visitors, seeking poisonous specimens like Taipans, Death Adders and Eastern Browns. Back in 1950, young collector Kevin Budden scoured the scrub behind the oil tanks, searching for the highly venomous taipan, for which no antivenom existed. He succeeded in catching a 1.8m specimen but unfortunately the snake bit him and Kevin died the following day. However, the live snake was sent to Melbourne where scientists milked its venom to create the fi rst taipan antivenom.

Local community spearheads tanks redevelopment

In search of a much-needed new site for community arts programs, local artists were at the forefront of the eventual decision to convert the fuel tanks into an arts complex. Certainly, there was a deliberate focus right from the beginning to maximise the engagement of locals in development of the facility. Community think “tanks”, shopping centre displays and a design competition fostered strong local support and input to the development plans. The Council masterplan foreshadowed a staged development of the site over several years. The conversion of the tanks was in many respects experimental, from the decontamination of the residual oil sludge to the all-important improvement of the acoustics within the tanks.

First glimpse

With Commonwealth funding secured, capital works began in late 1992 to cut tank wall openings and install basic services in Tank 4. As the works progressed, friends and family of the arts community, as well as inquisitive strangers volunteered priceless hands-on assistance in whatever jobs were underway at the time of their visit, even when heavy rain turned the site into rivulets of mud. Besides facilitating the progress of the redevelopment works, such enthusiastic support undeniably forged strong and enduring ties with the local arts community. In May 1993, the Cairns community had its fi rst opportunity to inspect the progress of the

Shopping centre display.

Community planning meeting.

Worker preparing main entance. Curious locals inspect redevelopment progress.

embryonic arts centre. During an afternoon of family entertainment, locals could enjoy a taste of the performance and visual arts to expect in the future.

Offi cial opening

After more than a year of preparation, Tank 4 had been transformed into a venue. The Tanks Art Centre was born and was opened on the 2 June 1994 under the banner of a community centre linking the arts, environment, culture and heritage.

Local arts fi nd the limelight

With the launch of Tank 4, followed by the remaining two concrete tanks over the next few years, the scene was set for the arts to fl ourish in the new facility. Coupled with a ‘can do’ attitude and unleashed creativity, a multitude of activities burst onto the scene at the Tanks.

Working on the pumphouse.