THE Moree community will be over the moon with the beloved Moree Rocket jetting onto the NSW State Heritage Register.
The Moree Rocket is a distinctive playground rocket representative of the many installed in playgrounds across New South Wales at the height of space fever in the 1960s and 1970s.
Rockets like this are an important and beloved symbol of Australian childhood.
The Moree Rocket was installed at Kirkby Park in 1972, built with money left over from the Centenary of Education Ball celebrations, and recognises how space exploration had permeated the town’s culture in the early 1970s.
The idea to build the rocket came from Mrs June McKinnon, then principal of Moree Infants School after a career of teaching in the district.
The iconic rocket is also a nod to Moree’s role with the Overseas Telecommunications Commission satellite dish which operated about 10 kilometres north-west of Moree on the Carnarvon Highway.
Globally significant, Moree’s OTC satellite station relayed the iconic 1969 footage captured by the Parkes telescope to the world on the day people first walked on the moon.
The Moree Rocket’s metal fabricator, Dick West, built 38 playground rockets across New South Wales, reflecting the space mania of the era.
Of these beloved and nostalgic creations, only two are left standing in their original locations in Moree and Deniliquin. The Rocket’s listing on the State Heritage Register shows history and heritage are not just convict buildings and sandstone churches.
New South Wales’ heritage and stories sit in the playgrounds at the end of the street, at the pubs on the corner, in mixed business shops and refurbished milk bars – the stories are many, and all are important.
Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe said the Moree Rocket is a symbol of childhood in Australia.
“It symbolises the time we spent as children running in the park and playing with our friends,” she said.
“These iconic playground structures speak immediately to us all and to our shared experiences in regional towns, city parks and on road-trip holidays.
“The Rocket reminds us of a time when the world raced towards the moon and reflects the excitement many of us felt recently as a new band of astronauts journeyed to the far side of the moon,” she said.
“Rockets like these were once common across New South Wales – from Sydney to the Central Tablelands, the Central Coast to the Blue Mountains. This listing sparks fond memories for many. Now a nod to history, it shows that our state’s heritage isn’t just held in old convict buildings – it also lives in the park on the corner.”
