Play Time in Griffith - By: Corwin Smith

Like Canberra, the town of Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and proclaimed a city in 1987. Seen as the gateway to country Australia, the city of over 16000 has a true country feel, only getting her first set of traffic lights last year. A NSW tender currently being advertised will see major development of two recreation facilities in the area.

Expected to take around a year to build, the new parks will house play equipment, exercise items and structures, as well as kiosks, sheds and major landscaping.

Griffith was originally established back in 1916 as part of an irrigation programme by the NSW government. Because of this it quickly established itself as a fruit growing area and has since expanded into both rice and wine.

From its earliest days Griffith was heavily populated by Italian immigrants and today around 60% of the population claim Italian heritage.

Griffith has many tourist attractions. These include Pioneer Park, a 510 seat Regional Theatre, the Italian museum, the Griffith Regional Art Gallery, craft and antique shops, and its many high standard restaurants. Many of the Griffith wineries also have wine tasting at the cellar door, notably De Bortoli Wines, McWilliams, Beelgara Estate (formally Rossetto Wines), West End Wines, Miranda Wines and Riverina Wines. Griffith is famous for its botrytis botrytis including De Bortoli’s Noble One and its fortified wine such as McWilliams' Hanwood Port.

Festivals in Griffith include the Riverina Field Days in May, the Festival of Gardens in October, La Festa, Wine, Food and Multicultural Festival, which is held annually over the Easter weekend and unWINEd, held annually on the June Long Weekend.

Recently the town was famous for less than salubrious reasons when it featured in the crime special, Underbelly. This was due to a reputation as a drug town back in the 1970s. Today it is proud home to many great Australian wines, fruits, trails and walks and a growing industry in ecotourism. Expansion of the recreation areas as detailed in the NSW tender currently advertised will only serve to increase its family and visitor appeal.

About the Author

For more information regarding NSW tender, please visit http://www.australiantenders.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Corwin-Smith/82435

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