The park was initially closed due to the damage, which has taken months to deal with.
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.’’
The storm’s damage resulted in more than 800 tonnes of firewood, 480 tonnes of saleable logs and 6500cu m of mulch being created.
By early March, nearly 800 trees had been removed from the 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.’’
Much of the firewood from Queens Park had been distributed to community groups, she said.
The two main recipients were the Makarewa Lions Club and Awarua Whānau Services.
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 Invercargill’s other parks and reserves was roughly equal to that of Queens Park alone, she said.
On October 23 extreme weather toppled trees and left thousands in the South without power.
PowerNet, the electricity management company for Southland and parts of Otago, said staff had responded to ‘‘unprecedented wind damage’’ to its networks.
The state of emergency declared for Southland in the wake of the storm was in place for two weeks.
