The historic brickpit at Sydney Olympic Park is being transformed into a $6.5 million sanctuary for the endangered green and golden bell frogs.
The frogs first made the headlines in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympic Games when they were discovered in the abandoned brickpit, forcing organisers to shift the site of the venue for the tennis.
Since then the Sydney Olympic Park Authority has worked with Durbach Block Architects to design a structure to keep the frogs in their natural habitat and open the brickpit to the public.
They came up with the brickpit ring concept - a 500-metre, elevated circular walkway with panels detailing the history of the pit and its surrounds.
NSW Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Sandra Nori visited the site yesterday, describing it as "iconic".
"It encapsulates world's best practice when looking at ecological tourism.," she said.
It was expected to be completed by the Christmas school holidays, she said.
Park ecosystems manager Kerry Darcovich, who has spent the past six years working with the frogs, said there were now between 500 to 700 green and golden bell frogs in the brickpit area.
"This effort to re-establish the species is arguably one of the largest habitat construction projects ever undertaken for an endangered amphibian," Ms Darcovich said.
The building of 15 freshwater ponds and boulder shelters and grass and reed planting had encouraged more frogs from the brickpit to surrounding areas.
Park chief executive Brian Newman said the new eco-tourism attraction would boost visitor numbers to the park. Last year more than 1 million people visited the 425-hectare park and he expected that number to double by 2007.
Mr Newman was delighted the public could finally get a glimpse of the brickpit, which closed in 1988 after a
100-year operation in which it produced 3 billion bricks.