There Was Once an Asylum
This site not only provides an overview of mental health history and its implications for Goodna, but also explores the complex relationship between memory and history.
There are stories we may never know, but this site uncovers the history, revealing the layers of understanding that underpin the present.
It is done in a way that honours the patients, clients, and the people.
Visitors’ Garden and Pavilion
Built-in 1920
The Visitors’ Garden is located across from the Administration building and is highly visible from the Ellerton Drive approach.
Originally a fenced yet attractive meeting space for patients and visitors, it now serves as the foreground setting for the area's main buildings. The Visitors’ Pavilion (1920) is highly intact and stands centrally in the garden at the end of Wolston Park Road.
The garden terrain gently slopes to the south, and its original extent (a semicircular shape defined by the curving Ellerton Drive/Cricket Lane on its northern side) has been obscured by the progressive development of the eastern half since c1955; however, some mature trees and open spaces are retained among the buildings.
Early plans indicate that the area was intended for offices and stables for horses.
