Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408:front:0:p243
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1, pp. 57-58)

The construction of the Australian War Memorial was, however, delayed by the Great Depression and the commencement of World War 2, with the building not being opened until 1941.  The first memorial on what was is now Anzac Park was not erected until 1968.

In the meantime, in the 1920s Prospect Parkway (renamed Anzac Park in 1928) was laid out with formal plantings adjacent to the growing suburb of Reid, the intricate bedding being maintained until 1950 (Marshall and others 2010b, vol. 1, p. 87).  The extent to which these plantings by Charles Weston were in response to Griffin's intentions for the parkway, and in what degree they were responding to later Departmental ideas, is not clear, though the former does seem likely, as the scale of the laid out beds precluded major road construction.  Weston was in charge of early government planting programs, and further information about his role is provided in Section 3.3 below.

  Figure 29.  View from Mount Ainslie towards Provisional Parliament House, c.1925, showing the formal layout of what was by then called Anzac Park
  Source:  National Archives of Australia, A3560, 908

  Figure 30.  Detail of 1933 Plan of Canberra showing extent of development
  Source:  Detail of 1933 Map of Canberra prepared by the Property & Survey Branch of the Department of the Interior, National Library of Australia, 2931052

  Figure 31.  St John's Church and Anzac Park, about 1939.  The formal plantings in Anzac Park and the now-unused railway embankment crossing it are highlighted.
  Source:  St. John's Anglican Church, Reid, and its cemetery, Canberra, A.C.T., c. 1939, National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an23548158

  Figure 32.  Aerial view of Anzac Park and St John's Church looking towards the Australian War Memorial, about 1940?
  Source:  Copied from an image in the possession of Scott McAlister

Figure 33.  Anzac Park, 1961
Source:  ACT Heritage Library

  Figure 34.  View from the Australian War Memorial of Anzac Park, early 1960s?
  Source:  Richard Clough, From Anzac Parade forecourt before any tree memorial, Canberra, National Library of Australia, nla.pic.an14324452-90

Anzac Parade is developed as a memorial space

Anzac Park becomes Anzac Parade
In the 1960s, as the development of Canberra was accelerating, the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), recognising the significance of the siting of the Australian War Memorial, drew up plans to make Anzac Parade a 'processional way' leading up to the Memorial.

Major earthworks were undertaken to level the sweep of the parade and establish two roadways separated by a broad median area, flanked on either side by a newly planted Anzac Park, and beyond these roads for local traffic.

   Figure 35.  Perspective sketch of Anzac Parade looking towards the Australian War Memorial, 1963-64
   Source:  NCDC Annual Report 1963-64