Work began recently on the project that will see Paul Keating Park gain a massive facelift, complete with a leading-edge university and children's playground. The multi-level, vertically designed Campus of Western Sydney has a completion date of 2022, and is set to become the focus of an impressive health and education hub where students can undertake courses in humanities, arts, health, IT, business, psychology and teaching.
Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown, Khal Asfour, believes the hub will be envied by many and will establish the city as a new place of opportunity. He added:
“The new university campus will add to the new and modern Bankstown, attracting thousands of students and adding $54 million to the South-West Sydney economy.”
Conveniently located beside both the Bankstown Library and the Civic Tower, the campus is the beginning of a larger masterplan that proposes the transformation of Appian Way into a pedestrian thoroughfare that extends to the area's new Metro Station, and would also feature a retail sector with restaurants and upscale shops.
Major innovations such as the new hub have the potential to boost local business activity in associated industries, such as printing services.
The mayor said that while disruptions will occur during construction, locals will benefit greatly from additional jobs and a boost to the local economy once works have been completed.