Anzac Park

By September 1918 the rifle range had been decommissioned and the area became a memorial park to commemorate local men who had served in the Great War. The park was named Anzac Park and ornamental trees were planted in memory of the local men who fell in the offensives. Markers were located adjacent to each tree. The markers consisted of a map of Australia on which the soldier’s name, rank, unit colours and number were recorded. The trees were planted in rows, some of the trees were macadamias. Walter C. Harding and J. Hiron, with assistance of the Toowong Council, were instrumental in commencing the beautification of Anzac Park. 

By the 1930s/1940s the Park was neglected, the soldiers’ markers were missing and the trees were in poor health. Reconstruction and replanting of the park began in 1947. 

Tennis courts for the local Baptist and Methodist congregations and the Amicables’ Tennis Club stood to the corner of the Park bounded by Mt-Coot-tha Road and Dean Street from around 1925 until they were demolished 1970-71. Brisbane City Council nursery facilities were housed within the Park from 1975 to 1991. It is thought that the site of the glasshouses was an early dump site. The Scout Association began an association with the Park in 1957 and removed their huts in 1972-73. The palm trees near Wool Street are thought to have been transplanted from King George Square during the 1967 redevelopment. A fifty-year-old bottle tree was transplanted to the park in July 1990. Five metres high and weighing 10 tonnes, it was moved from Manly to make way for a housing development. 

Beautification of the grounds has been undertaken during the 1990s and play facilities and picnic areas have been improved. A dog off-leash area was constructed in 1997. An Arab-Israeli Peace Memorial was mooted for the Park in May 1998 but was not constructed due to objections from the local community.

There are entrances to the Park from Dean and Wool Streets and a vehicular drive circles through the Park.

There are a number of picnic areas scattered through the Park and the type and density of vegetation varies across the site. The Dean Street edge of the Park accommodates a play area, picnic area, two toilet blocks and a carpark. The area also contains two feature ponds covered with water lilies and reeds divided by a concrete and stone footbridge and weir. Clumps of dense vegetation form a backdrop to the ponds and screen this area of the Park from the busy traffic thoroughfare at the corner of Dean Street and the Freeway entry along Mt Coot-tha Road. The area is distinguished by a graceful stand of bamboo and a number of distinctive hoop pines. Ornamental shade trees stand along the boundary to Dean Street and the remnants of a palm avenue march up the slope along Wool Street. There are distinctive pines threaded through the middle of the Park climbing the slope from the Dean Street picnic area up to the summit at the top of Wool Street. A dog off-leash area stands to the far west corner.

A brief inspection reveals that Anzac Park generally is in a satisfactory condition.

1. Brisbane City Council - City Assets Branch Conservation Management Study Stage 1 Report. November 2002