Elder Park: Adelaide's first 'pleasure gardens'

The Elder Park Rotunda was erected in 1882, as part of the 'beautification' works along the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari.

Originally known as 'Rotunda Park', Elder Park became the city's first 'pleasure gardens', with the focus being the rotunda established in 1882, a year after the Torrens Weir was built. It was offically named Elder Park in 1907, in recognition of Sir Thomas Elder, who had donated the rotunda.

The octagonal rotunda was manufactured at Macfarlane's Saracen Foundry in Glasgow and shipped from London in February 1882. It was constructed of decorative wrought iron with a zinc roof. On arrival, the rotunda was painted bronze, grey and blue.

The rotunda was constructed above a six metre deep cavern. This cavern was used to store musical equipment for band practices, and is held up by stone walls with arches. The ground around the base of the rotunda was infilled to hide the cavern. It is currently not accessible or utilised.

The artwork on the river behind this sign, 'Talking Our Way Home' by Shaun Kirby, draws on the artist's own migrant experience. He came with his family to South Australia from Britain in the mid-1960s and first stayed at a nearby migrant hostel. This hostel, called the Elder Park Migrant Hostel, was sited on the present day Adelaide Festival Centre. It accommodated large numbers of migrants in the decades following the Second World War. It officially closed in 1969, and was demolished shortly after.