Wikipedia:Wikipedia Takes Perth Foreshore

April 2012 will see the commencement of significant and controversial changes to the Perth shoreline; on 18 March we'd like to capture what the area looks like before these changes start, with a WikiTakes Perth Foreshore day.

Affected articles
The changes are going to affect a number of Wikipedia articles;


 * All of these are within the boundary of what's being developed and based on available information will have changes:
 * The Esplanade (Perth)
 * Perth Water
 * Swan River (Western_Australia)
 * Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
 * Esplanade railway station
 * Stirling Gardens
 * Barrack Street
 * Barrack Street Jetty
 * William_Street, Perth
 * Mounts Bay Road
 * Riverside Drive, Perth

Within the boundary are a number of heritage listed places, including the Esplanade itself and many of the trees that line it
 * also:
 * Weld Club
 * The New Esplanade Hotel
 * Supreme Court of Western Australia
 * Old Court House, Perth
 * Talbot Hobbs memorial
 * Florence Hummerston building
 * Lawson Apartments

And there the flow on effects to CBD, Perth Ferries, The freeway system will have a number of access/exit points closed or altered, feeder roads(not all notable) will have changes. The Graham Farmer Freeway will be widened, the Causeway will be affected, roads through the suburbs of Victoria Park and South Perth will be changed, Views from South Perth and Kings park will be different, plus the designs show a cable car connecting Kings park with the development. All of this without even considering the political side of events! We are in an ideal position to take a historical perspective before the changes, via a WikiTakes Event, to record photographically what is there now.

Day plan
The base for the day is the Geograph Room on the ground floor of State Library of Western Australia, Schedule;
 * 10:00am setup, start, register
 * 10:15 welcome, intro to WMAU
 * 10:30 talk on what Wikimedia Commons
 * 10:45 brief history of the Perth Foreshore
 * 11:00 break into groups for Photowalks
 * 11:15 to the bus
 * 14:00 start return buses to the library
 * 14:30 until close there will be people available upload photographs and answer question
 * 16:00 last bus
 * 17:00 end
 * 17:30 library closes

Photowalks
Each group will have a Wikipedian and a guide. Start points:
 * Barrack Street Jetty
 * Starting at the Jetties then work along the foreshore towards the narrows, paying particular attention to the buildings including the Bell tower, Talbot Hobbs memorial, riverside of the Esplanade and the freeway interchange, time permitting views from the Narrows across to the Jetty,
 * Convention Centre
 * starting on the convention centre forecourt go through the busport to the esplanade station along The Esplanade, Glasshouse, stage area and Florence Hummerston building, as well as the streetscapes Howard street and Sherwood court, Esplanade Hotel, and Weld Club. pickup point barrack st Jetty
 * Stirling Gardens
 * Starting on St Georges Terrace thru Stirling gardens past Supreme court buildings and Old court house, and the City of Perth offices. Stirling gardens was the first botanical gardens with a focus on finding out which plants well known to the settlers could grow in Perth. From there across to the Perth rowing club then west to Victoria avenue focusing on the riverside drive, shore line and the date palms pickup point outside the Federal court building.

The personal factor: Please focus on people using the areas: whether it's a couple picnicking or someone exercising, it's as important to record the area being used as it to just to record the area as it is. When photographing people, please respect their privacy. If they ask you to delete the photo, do so; if they are happy to talk, try to record the person's details (name, age, where they live/work, even what they think about the development and how they think it'll affect them), as this adds to the overall picture of this point in time.

If at any time someone needs to return to the library, please ask your guide to contact the bus driver to arrange a pickup location.

Additional walks
This depends on numbers additional walks;
 * Circumnavigate the Esplanade, start at the bell tower, up barracks street, west along the Esplanade, south down William Street, east along Riverside Drive
 * Convention centre west through the cycleways of the freeway interchange taking in all the parks, the freeway interchange (exercise caution if near freeway edges) towards the Narrows
 * Kings Park, starting near the war memorial. Head along the scarpe past the bali memorial along bellevue terrace to Mount Street, then part of the group descends Jacobs Ladder to Mounts Bay Road while the others continue down mount street and cross the freeway taking in the various views towards the Esplanade.

Event wrap
The event was attended by a limited number of people but that didnt stop us gather a comprehensive selection of images of the area before the work commenced. Wikimedia Australia as the event sponsor arranged for Wikimedian JJ Harrison to attend the event JJ Harrison is known for his delightful photography from around Tasmania, JJ's images from the event can be seen here including the above Featured Picture. Thank you to Lise from the State Records Offcie for guiding the group around Perth and for the insights into the way in which the Esplanade was developed which help those taking photographs to identify additional points that needed to recorded. Also thank to John Hyde the local member of parliament and shadow minsiter for Arts and Culture for supporting and welcoming the participants to the event. Of those who attended that had never previously editted Wikipedia 6 months after the event 1/3rd of them continue to edit.