Before WW1, Wollongong Road grocer, Hugh Wilkins, a Rockdale Council representative 1911-1917, complained bitterly about the lukewarm attitude of police to the "Push" which frequented the park and had attacked "a respectable Chinaman", about footballers undressing in the park, and of people playing cricket and cards on Sundays.
Estate agent Arthur Goddard, a representative of the area 1908 - 1914, criticised the use of the park by open air motion picture operators and the Arncliffe Brass Band playing "ragtime" music in the park on Sundays.
The War Memorial
The Avenue of trees, planted about 1904