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16 Edgar Street,
PO Box 856,
Port Hedland WA 6721
(08) 9173 1064
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Sat: 9am to 2pm
Sun: 9am to 2pm
WEDGE STREET: HAS TRANSFORMED
Wedge Street: It’s Time to Celebrate!
The community came together on Sunday 10th February to celebrate the official opening of the new-look Wedge Street by Hon. Brendon Grylls, Minister for Regional Development; Lands and Chris Cottier, Manager Indigenous and Community Affairs, BHP Billiton.
Crowds gathered amongst the greenery and new shade canopies in front of the Port Hedland Visitor Centre to toast the completion of the major infrastructure project which ties together several significant enhancements made in Port Hedland’s historic West End over the past five years.
Over the past few months Wedge Street transformed from a dated strip to an inviting and more attractive main street through the addition of quality paving, street furnishings and lighting, planting of mature trees and garden beds, resurfacing the road and through the installation of new feature shade canopies designed by local artist Ann Sibosado.
It was not all smooth sailing and although the project was delivered ahead of schedule and within budget the contractors Environmental Industries and designers EPCAD had to wrangle with some tricky situations in a street which had not seen an upgrade of this calibre in quite some time.
“Environmental Industries is very proud to be involved with FORM, RPS and EPCAD in completing such a difficult project – it has been such an achievement for everyone involved. We also thank the community for their patience during the project,” said Barry Winterbourn, Director, Environmental Industries. “Our team was dealing with existing infrastructure which was about 50 years old with no accurate original plans or survey reports. Everything in the ground was a complete mystery and required extremely careful excavations.”
Wedge Street is now a vibrant and user friendly main street which will provide a shadier, cooler and greener environment that local businesses, the wider community and tourists will be able to enjoy for many years to come. It will take a little time for trees to grow but for those that might remember when the Silver Star went into its current location, it really was only nine months until the gardens were established.
The upgrades have also created a space that can support West End activation events, such as West End Markets and outdoor films and support local businesses along the street which now have a more attractive and presentable frontage.
The Wedge Street Enhancement Project was facilitated by FORM and made possible through funding from Royalties for Regions, Pilbara Cities community fund and BHP Billiton with special thanks to FORM’s project partners RPS, EPCAD and Environmental Industries.
LOCAL ARTIST MAKES HER MARK
South Hedland-based artist Ann Sibosado of the Spinifex Hill Artists was commissioned to design the feature canopies that now provide dappled shade along Wedge Street.
The design began through the Spinifex Hill Artists’ participation in the Land.Mark.Art workshop program, run by FORM and Brisbane-based public art design and manufacture consultancy Urban Art Projects (UAP). The program helps transition the artists’ skills so that they can be applied to design and three-dimensional disciplines that are relevant to public art projects.
Travelling to Brisbane in January 2012, Ann worked under the mentorship of FORM and UAP to finalis e her design. The design of the shade structures is based on seeds, which Ann calls the Seeds of Life, the Seeds of Change, with her chosen colour reflecting the distinctive mauve of the local mulla mulla wild flower.
‘This is the story of the seed. Seeds are both the beginning and the end of things – they come after the fruit and before the new plant... The journey of the seed is like our journey – we move through different places but we always come right back to the beginning again.’ Spinifex Hill Artist Ann Sibosado speaking about her public work, Seeds of Life, the Seeds of Change.