Out of the Port - New Perspectives on Queensland History & Heritage

John Oxley Library and the Heritage branch of the Department of Environment and Resource Management have come together to present a series of informative - and sometimes provocative - monthly talks promoting new research on Queensland.

The 'Out of the Port' series commenced yesterday with a terrific presentation by Don Watson titled "Liking the Unloved" which uncovered the story behind the planning and construction of one of the most prominent landmarks in Brisbane's CBD, the Riverside Expressway.

  South East Freeway, 1974

   Construction of the South East Freeway, 1976

Don is an architect with the Queensland Department of Public Works. Co-author with Dr Judith McKay of Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century: a biographical dictionary and A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940. Don has also taught at The University of Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology.

A packed auditorium - despite yesterday's inclement weather the numbers were fantastic - enjoyed Don's talk and the question time that followed.

'Out of the Port' talks occur every 3rd Wednesday in auditorium 2, level 2 of the State Library at 12.30pm and will run from April to November this year. In the next session author and freelance journalist Andrew Stafford will look at the Brisbane music scene in Brisbane post-Pig City.