page_title: Centenary Place
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Centenary Place / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Unveiling of the T. J. Byrnes statue, Brisbane, 1902
context_page_description: Centenary Place is a heritage-listed park at 85 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known by some as Centenary Park even though this is not the name it was given at the ceremonial dedication. It was designed by Henry Moore. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 August 2007.
context_section_description: Centenary Place was designed and constructed for the purpose of commemorating the centenary of European settlement in Queensland (1824-1924). The Council began clearing of the land of existing buildings in 1924 and the park was formed in 1925. It covers an area of 8,748 square metres and is bounded by Wickham Street, Ann Street and Gotha Street, Fortitude Valley. The park was one of the last civic projects undertaken by the former Brisbane City Council prior to the formation of the Greater Brisbane Council in 1925. The park has been in continual use by the public since its creation and was extensively refurbished in 1999/2000.
  Celebrating the centenary of European settlement in Queensland was an important milestone in the state's history, and presented an opportunity to demonstrate how far it had progressed in 100 years. From its beginnings as a penal colony, followed by the arrival of free settlers, separation from New South Wales, Federation and the First World War, Queensland had experienced many tumultuous events in its first 100 years worthy of commemoration and celebration. The creation of Centenary Place provided the public with a tangible means of doing this.
  To advance the centenary celebrations, a Centenary Celebrations Committee was formed as was a Centenary Fund. Many fundraising events were held by the Centenary Celebrations Committee and all proceeds from these events were devoted to the Centenary Fund to go towards the provision of centenary memorials, including Centenary Place. Other commemorative memorials and events included the minting of commemorative medals, a statue of John Oxley, the founding of the John Oxley Library which included the purchase of some 6000 books and numerous tree planting ceremonies across Brisbane.
  The Catholic Church took great interest in the development of Centenary Place, sensing an opportunity to promote their vision of a new cathedral and envisaging the site as the forecourt for the proposed Holy Name Cathedral, a massive "Renaissance basilica" that was to occupy the block bounded by Gotha, Ann, Gipps and Wickham Streets. Although the park was designed by Henry Moore, the Parks Superintendent for Council, given the layout, which is still intact, includes a central path originally designed to lead to the proposed cathedral entrance, it is possible that Archbishop James Duhig and the cathedral architect, Jack Hennessy, junior contributed to the design.
  Other features were added to the park at later dates with the drawings for the podium, archway and tramways office dated 1928. Centenary Place was designed by Moore who was also responsible for designing New Farm Park and Newstead Park. He employed a formal design with defined layouts, planted garden beds, grassed areas, low sandstone retaining walls and curved paths. The garden includes mature specimens of poinciana (Delonix regia), Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), Queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana), wine palms (Butia capitata) and fig trees including, weeping figs (Ficus benjamina) and white figs (Ficus virens). In 1947 Harry Oakman, the Council Parks & Gardens Director, planned additional garden beds along the walks in the fig and poinciana avenues. These proposals were largely in place by 1950.
  The original design of the park specifically allocated space to accommodate a statue of Thomas Joseph Byrnes, a former Premier of Queensland. Byrnes was both the first Queensland-born premier and first Roman Catholic premier. The statue, by renowned sculptor, Sir Bertram Mackennal, is believed to be one of Brisbane's earliest and was originally erected at Petrie Bight, at the junction of Wickham and Boundary Streets in 1902. It was originally commissioned from sculptor Achille Simonetti, but he died without completing it. When the park was completed in 1925, the statue was moved from Petrie Bight to its new location. Another statue of Byrnes (the T J Byrnes Monument) was erected at Warwick.
  A statue of the Scottish bard, Robert Burns, was proposed for Brisbane as early as 1888 when the President of the Burns Club, Al
caption: Unveiling of the T. J. Byrnes statue, Petrie Bight, 1902
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