Parks/pioneer.html

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Freotopia > parks > Pioneer Park.
See also the 2009 plan for its development.

Pioneer Park

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Pioneer Reserve is opposite the Fremantle Railway Station and is bounded by Market, Short, Pakenham, and Phillimore Streets. What is now Pioneer Park was not previously (mostly) open space. It was completely built on at the end of the 19th century, as shown in a photo of Short Street here.

It should be all open space, but one former office building was retained in the 1970s out of expediency. It's now under the effective control of a ... puppet theatre (!) which currently threatens to expand to take over even more of a people's park. A puppet theatre could be housed almost anywhere. The building should be demolished – whereas it's planned to spend a large of money to preserve and upgrade it –  or build a new building. It's an undistinguished building from the 1920s - not the goldrush period – and there is nothing about it to make it intrinsically worth preserving.

History

Sunday Times 1914:
Opposite the Fremantle station is a reserve, which, we understand, is on property owned by the Railway Department, and as such its upkeep devolves upon that department. Apparently, however, the department has lost sight of the fact, for from its appearance it is many a day since it was given any attention, and its present unkempt condition reflects anything but credit upon the town. The grass has been permitted to grow in a scraggy manner, debris is littered over it, and it is surrounded by heaps of objectionable matter that should be immediately removed, if only in the interests of public health. It seems strange that the local health authorities have not, ere this, given the department a reminder of its obligation in the matter. Besides, the reserve and in fact, the approaches generally to the station are anything but a good advertisement for the State. Will the department please note?  Sunday Times, 5 July 1914 page 14: Port Paragraphs.

Uglieland

An Uglieland fairground with its entrance on the corner of Market and Phillimore Streets was run from 1922 to c. 1934 by the Fremantle Uglymen's Association to raise funds for underprivileged children. It was a popular nightlife venue in the area and hosted regular dances.

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Library:
Photo no. 1276, 1920s: The Ugly Men's Association was a charitable organisation formed to raise money to alleviate suffering in the community caused by World War I. A fairground with chocolate wheels, merry-go-rounds etc was opened on the corner of Market and Phillimore Streets, by the Mayor, Frank Gibson, on 31.03.1922. It operated until about 1936. The area later became Pioneer Reserve, opened by the Lieutenant Governor Sir James Mitchell on 3.07.1942.

The photo above shows the corner of Market and Phillimore Streets. I believe that's the still extant pumping station/toilet building which can be seen on the extreme left edge of the photograph.
It might be possible to put the date of the photo in the very early 1920s from the film poster. It's advertising a Pola Negri movie called The Last P... The only film starring Pola Negri called The Last [something] was Das Karussell des Lebens, which was released in Germany in 1919. One of its English titles was the literal translation, The Carousel of Life, but it was also screened as The Last Payment. I'm guessing that the film might have got as far as Fremantle by 1922, when Uglieland opened, and that the photograph was taken soon after the opening.

Uglieland seems to have been closed in the early 1930s, as this article in The Daily Newsof Tuesday 3 July 1934 implies by writing "some years ago":

SELL UGLIELAND SITE
Fremantle City Eyesore
Cr. Stevens, of Fremantle, suggests that the site of Uglieland be sold by the Government, subject to the condition that the purchasers utilise the land for commercial purposes within a period of two years.
The councillor gave notice or motion to Fremantle City Council last night to have a request made to the Government in accordance with his desire. Uglieland is the block opposite Fremantle railway station, bounded by Phillimore, Market, Short and Pakenham streets. It got its name through being used by Fremantle Ugly Men's Association some years ago for money-raising carnivals.
Cr. Stevens explained to the council that he considered the land eminently suitable for commercial buildings, being close to the railway station and the wharves. At present the site was an eyesore, he said, and a disfigurement to one of the main entrances to the city. The notice of motion will be considered a fortnight hence.

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The only building now on the reserve is the former Stateships building, owned by the City, and currently leased to the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. The Fremantle City Council and the Fremantle Society wanted the building removed in the 1970s. A brief note in the Fremantle Society newsletter in 1975, vol. 3, no. 2, stated that the removal had been agreed by the State Government:

Fremantle Society:
EXTENSION OF PARK
After representations made to the State Government by the Council and the Society, the Government has agreed to release the old State Shipping building and the shops in Market Street that abut the Pioneer Reserve to enable the Council to extend the park area.

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These shops in Market Street used to be on the northern corner with Short Street. Where they stood is now part of Pioneer Park.

The Stateships building (on the left) should have been removed also. It's of no particular architectural value. Pioneer Park, as green open space, is of much greater importance. A puppet theatre could be housed anywhere.

Another view (in 1924) of the shops (on the right) on what is now Pioneer Park. The advertising hoarding on the extreme right is probably on the exterior of Uglieland.

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Fremantle Herald, 24 May 2008:

Fremantle Herald, 11 March 2006:

West Australian, Saturday 23 June 2007:

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The photo above is from Roel Loopers from Facebook from Fremantle Ports from SLWA from WA Newspapers.

References and Links

Grant, Steve 2023, 'Ugly, beautiful Freo', Fremantle Herald, Saturday 1 April, pp. 3, 7.

Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Heritage Council page for Pioneer Reserve.

Wikipedia page for Ugly Men's Association.

Note in a Fremantle Society newsletter.

Spare Parts Puppet Theatre website

Sunday Times, 5 July 1914 page 14: Port Paragraphs.

Fremantle Society posts.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 21 July, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/parks/pioneer.html (it was last updated on 14 January, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.