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Showground Park was officially named on Saturday 22nd November 1997 at the ninth annual Bangee (Banyo/Nudgee) Community Festival. Bangee is held in the park each year in November.
The Nudgee School of Arts was built on the land in 1914.
During the 1920's the Nudgee Cricket Club played here on a concrete wicket. The great Australian spin bowler, Bill O'Reily, played with the Nudgee team when he visited a local girl, Miss Kodwell. Another great cricketer who represented Australia, Bert Ironmonger, graced this ground with his skills while on his travels to Nudgee to inspect pineapple farming.
The massive Moreton Bay Fig Tree and Camphor Laurel beside the hall were planted in the 1880s. Most of the native trees in the park were planted during a local community tree planting in 1992.
Early in its history, the School of Arts was well patronised. Weekly dances were conducted on Saturday nights and games such as table tennis, quoits and euchre were also popular at various times. The first wedding reception held was for Joseph and Ellen Kreutzer, three months after the hall was opened.
Later the School of Arts was the domain of librarian Charlie O'Connor (born 1885). Charlie spent his childhood at the nearby Nudgee (St Vincents Home) Orphanage. A voracious reader, he educated himself - indeed it was said that there was no problem he could not solve. Charlie spent many Friday nights lending books from the library that he operated.
Local interest in the weekly dances waned when the famed Cloudland Dance Hall was built at Bowen Hills. Nudgee's younger people did however convince the Nudgee Progress Association to hold monthly dances around the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the hall (1964).
After many years of community use, the School of Arts fell into physical disrepair. The Brisbane City Council inherited the all timber building in 1988 after building inspectors recommended its demolition.
The local community felt that the hall still had an important role to play in their lives. The Nundah and Districts Youth Club along with many others, set about restoring the building. Within 5 months it was restumped, reroofed and a ceiling installed.
After more than 80 years, Showground Park and the Nudgee School of Arts continues to be an important centre for the Nudgee community.
NUDGEE TRAIN STATION - The train line from Brisbane to Sandgate was officially opened on 11th May 1882.
The Nudgee Station adjacent to the park, was one of the last stops from Brisbane. Nundah Station was the next stop towards the city.
The railway provided a more reliable transport service to local residents as well as improving the delivery of the mail. However, local farmers who were now able to quickly transport their crops of pineapples, grapes, corn and oats, gained the greatest benefit.
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