Healing the Hill
Updated: Nov 10, 2020
Becoming Sydney’s Foremost Education Precinct
[This is one of seven Public Space Ideas proposed to the NSW Government by Millers Point Community Resident Action Group. See all seven proposals in the Submissions section of this site.]
Observatory Hill, majestically rising above Millers Point and
The Rocks, is a favourite spot for tourists and locals to view
the harbour and the city that surrounds it.
Having been annexed and chopped about for the Sydney
Harbour Bridge and then the Cahill Expressway, its cultural
gems are hidden and hard to find; – the former Signal
Station (1847) and Sydney Observatory (1858), now the
Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), Fort Street
Public School (1848), The National Trust Centre, SH Ervin
Gallery, shop and café.
Stage 4 sees Observatory Hill being healed of its deep
circular gash, and united above ground by a series of green
bridges covering the cut. It brings the Hill’s hidden gems
together to become Sydney’s foremost education precinct,
celebrating Science and Technology at MAAS, School
Education and Environmental Education at Fort Street
Public School, Arts at the SH Ervin Gallery, Heritage at The
National Trust Centre and International Affairs at Glover
Cottages.
Imagine the Cahill Expressway loop, once occupied by
cars and trucks now becoming a sanctuary for pedestrians,
cyclists and artists. Parents can bring their children safely to
school, while tourists can easily access the cultural gems of
Sydney from The Domain through to Darling Harbour away
from Expressway traffic.
Imagine the expanding school no longer confined within the
constraints of the expressway loop, but being able to reoccupy
its former school buildings and grounds to the south,
with the National Trust moving to Richmond Villa on Kent
Street.
