Pirrama Park

Locations > Pirrama Park

Pirrama Park (formerly Pyrmont Point Park) is a very popular recreation area built on land known as Pirrama to the Eora people. In 1875 Pyrmont Public Baths opened on Pyrmont Point and a ferry wharf operated until the tram service along Harris Street began in 1901. In 1929 the Sydney Harbour Trust resolved to demolish the baths but public opposition delayed the plan until 1945: local residents managed the baths until they were demolished.

The wharves were in decline by the 1970s. The Maritime Services Board (MSB) in 1980 acquired all the land on Pyrmont Point including land designated for the Council's Pyrmont Point housing project. It intended to level the site for a $30 million container terminal beside the proposed 686 dwellings. Council and Pyrmont residents objected, led by Alderman Michael Matthews, and forced the MSB to move its operations to Glebe Island. The state government acquired the land to accommodate the Water Police, but the rest of the ground was abandoned.

As the neighbouring CSR site was redeveloped as residential towers, the state government planned to redevelop Pyrmont Point in much the same form. The new residents mobilised against this plan, and in 2004 they formed the Friends of Pyrmont Point, to keep the land as public open space. City West Development Corporation intended to create parks further south towards Ultimo. However, the Friends gained powerful allies in Clover Moore, Jack Mundey and Green Bans, and in 2005 the newly elected City of Sydney Council repurchased the land for a waterfront park and passive recreation.

Pirrama Park occupies 1.8 hectares of harbourside space. The site includes a playground, toilets and barbecues. The park has a sheltered bay and a floating pontoon for private boats. The Stevedore Walk alongside the water recalls and celebrates the area’s history of wharves and dock workers.

The sculpture ‘Tied to Tide’ by Jenny Turpin and Michaelie Crawford was installed in 1999.