Concept designs to transform Paine Reserve into a walkway representing Newport’s rail history will be revealed at an exhibition held at The Substation this week.
Hobsons Bay council has funded Hubcap Productions – the company behind the Art & Industry Festival – to commission concept designs by a range of people from different fields including architecture and graphic design.
Hubcap’s director Donna Jackson said ideas had emerged through consultation with the community, local artists, Newport traders and students and lecturers from the Thrive Research Hub at Melbourne University.
“There seems to be a lot of interest in Paine Reserve, which is the area between Mason Street and Market Street,” she said.
“It’s got the Newport Bowls Club and the new hub for Newport facing onto that park.
“My idea for the park was that by walking through it you’d be able to tell stories about the local industry in the area, maybe the rail industry, and people and children would learn about our industrial history linked to rail.”
Submitted designs include cafe wallpaper designs for businesses inspired by original drawings of the Newport railway workshops, vintage railway graphics and ticket designs.
Another idea is a performance space with a railway track-inspired sun shelter, reflecting the history of trains in the Newport area.
The exhibition of concepts, with a chance to meet the artists and design students, is on February 22 from 10am-5pm and February 23 from 10am-1pm at The Substation, 1 Market Street, Newport.
