Johnstone Park is set in the centre of Geelong, adjacent to the City Hall, Art Gallery, City Library and Geelong Railway Station. In the park itself, you can see the War Memorial and the Band Pavilion.
Western Gully Creek once flowed through what is now Johnstone Park. Western Gully Creek flowed through what is now Johnstone Park. In 1849, the creek was dammed where the Geringup Street interchange is today. Two years later, the dam was fenced off after at least one man and seven horses drowned in it. And in 1872, the surrounding area was turned into a a public park named after the former mayor of Geelong, Robert De Bruce Johnstone. The park stretched from Geringup Street to Latrobe Terrace. In December of the same December of the same year, the first concert was held here, performed by the Artillery Geelong Artillery Corps. In 1873 an octagonal wooden stage was erected in the park, and a year later the Belcher Fountain, donated to the city by another former mayor George Frederick Belcher. In 1887, the park area had to be reduced due to the construction of Gordon Technical College on the west side.
The 20th century brought new changes: in 1915, the Art Gallery was built next to the park Art Gallery, and in 1919 the War Memorial was erected in memory of the those who died in the World War I. The memorial consisted of two rows of columns, a pavilion in the centre and the Peace Monument next to the Gallery. The pavilion was later listed to the Victorian Heritage List. Belcher's Fountain was first moved to another location in 1912 due to the construction of tram lines, and returned in 1956. back in 1956 after the trams stopped running through the city. In 2008, it was was restored and today it graces the north-east corner of Johnstone Park.
