Festival Gardens
The Liverpool Festival Gardens were developed on part of the site of the International Garden Festival which was held between May 02 and October 14, 1984.
The original site comprised 950,000 square metres occupying derelict land south of Herculaneum Dock. The dock itself was infilled to provide parking space.
Sixty individual gardens were built on the Festival site including a Japanese garden and pagodas. There was also an exhibition space, the Festival Hall, which formed the
centrepiece of the site and housed indoor exhibits.
A 15inch gauge railway provided transport within the site via a continuous run circuit plus a branch line to the Herculaneum entrance. Whilst most of the passenger rolling stock was built for the event motive power was provided by the Ravenglass and Eskdale and the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railways.
Following the closure of the festival the site has passed through the hands of several developers.
From the late 1980s until its closure in 1996, the Festival Hall and some of the surrounding land was used as the Pleasure Island Amusement Park.
Other parts of the site being given over to housing. The Festival Hall was demolished in 2006 despite its design which warranted insertion in a Pevsner architectural guide.
In September 2009 it was announced work would begin on redeveloping the site. The redevelopment would see the Chinese and Japanese gardens being restored, as well as the lakes and associated watercourses and the woodland sculpture trails.
Funding came from a range of sources, including the Northwest Regional Development Agency, who provided a £3.7million grant. Redevelopment work began in February 2010
In 2012, Liverpool Festival Gardens finally reopened. The restored garden site had been due to re-open in September 2011, however, this was delayed until 2012 whilst a new landscape management contractor was found after the original contractor, Mayfield Construction, went into administration. The garden site is now managed by The Land Trust.
The restored site features:
• Two restored pagodas in the oriental gardens
• The restored Moon Wall
• New lakes, waterways, and waterfalls
• New pedestrian access point linking to the promenade
• New secure parking area
Read MoreThe original site comprised 950,000 square metres occupying derelict land south of Herculaneum Dock. The dock itself was infilled to provide parking space.
Sixty individual gardens were built on the Festival site including a Japanese garden and pagodas. There was also an exhibition space, the Festival Hall, which formed the
centrepiece of the site and housed indoor exhibits.
A 15inch gauge railway provided transport within the site via a continuous run circuit plus a branch line to the Herculaneum entrance. Whilst most of the passenger rolling stock was built for the event motive power was provided by the Ravenglass and Eskdale and the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railways.
Following the closure of the festival the site has passed through the hands of several developers.
From the late 1980s until its closure in 1996, the Festival Hall and some of the surrounding land was used as the Pleasure Island Amusement Park.
Other parts of the site being given over to housing. The Festival Hall was demolished in 2006 despite its design which warranted insertion in a Pevsner architectural guide.
In September 2009 it was announced work would begin on redeveloping the site. The redevelopment would see the Chinese and Japanese gardens being restored, as well as the lakes and associated watercourses and the woodland sculpture trails.
Funding came from a range of sources, including the Northwest Regional Development Agency, who provided a £3.7million grant. Redevelopment work began in February 2010
In 2012, Liverpool Festival Gardens finally reopened. The restored garden site had been due to re-open in September 2011, however, this was delayed until 2012 whilst a new landscape management contractor was found after the original contractor, Mayfield Construction, went into administration. The garden site is now managed by The Land Trust.
The restored site features:
• Two restored pagodas in the oriental gardens
• The restored Moon Wall
• New lakes, waterways, and waterfalls
• New pedestrian access point linking to the promenade
• New secure parking area
