The park was initially closed due to the damage which has taken months to clean up.
Invercargill City Council parks and recreation manager Caroline Rain said anyone who walked down Coronation Ave today could be forgiven for forgetting the sheer scale of devastation in Queens Park just six months ago.
"It has taken a huge amount of work to restore the park to the safe and beautiful public space we all know and love."
By early March 2026, nearly 800 trees had been removed from Queens Park and about 630 trees climbed and pruned.
The canopies of 50 trees had been reduced in size and three trees had metal braces installed to ensure their structural integrity.
"Despite the removal of so many trees, Queens Park remains the shining jewel in Invercargill’s crown."
The two main recipients were the Makarewa Lions Club and Awarua Whānau Services.
Mulch will be used in garden beds and around tree plantings.
While most of the park was open there was still stump grinding and debris cleanup work to be completed in the cordoned off areas.
"The Winter Gardens remain closed due to storm damage and we don’t yet have a timeline for when this will be able to reopen."
The amount of saleable log wood, firewood and mulch generated from storm-damaged trees in the other parks and reserves around Invercargill was roughly equal to that inside Queens Park, she said.
