José Paronella, a man with a vision, made a park and then dedicated it to the public. Originally from Catalonia, José moved to Queensland, Australia, in 1913 and for the next 11 years he worked in the sugar cane business, making his way up from initially cutting sugar cane to buying and reselling cane farms. In 1924 he went back to Spain, a year later married Margarita and newlyweds moved back to Australia. Few years later, in 1929, Jose bought a piece of land and started building a garden. The Paronella Park covering an area of five hectares near Mena Creek Falls was opened to public in 1935. José Paronella planted more than 7000 trees including tropical plants and trees, built a castle, picnic area, tennis court, bridges, waterfalls. Unfortunately, Jose died in 1948 leaving the Park to his family who took good care of it. But frequent flooding and huge fire that damaged the castle was too heavy financial burden for the family who, during 1993, had to sell the park. New owners, Judy and Mark Evans, put the park back on the map. In 2009 it was reopened and still very well maintained and is eco-accredited. During the last 90 years of existence, it received many awards and is listed as a State and National Heritage site, and TripAdvisor named at as one of the Australia’s best parks.
With this post we challenge city land owners to do something similar! Anyone up to the challenge? We are willing to help you 😊
Find Paronella Park on the map
Coordinates: 17°39’8.52″S 145°57’27.31″
