Paul Woodruffe, who grew up next to the park, is a landscape architect. He has put forward some proposals for the Avenue of Remembrance in Centennial Park. These proposals are placed here for your information. They are generally supported by the Bush Society committee with some reservations relating to tree root damage and hard landscaping in the Rae Rd area.
Memorial Avenue, Centennial Park.
Memorial Avenue, also known as the Avenue of Remembrance is of significant historical importance, and is the oldest and largest man-made landscape feature within the park (excluding the Golf Course). The historical nature of the avenue being both a Centenary memorial, and a War memorial makes it a unique asset, and one that formed the basis for the original dedication of the park as a centenary heritage landscape.
The concept design I have developed is intended to not only restore the avenue, but to introduce a series of public artworks that speak to the war memorial and centenary memorial histories of the site. The resulting effect will be a discrete and subtle landscape experience for the local residents and visitors to the park.
It is envisaged the project will be completed in sections using partnerships with funding bodies and sponsors, but with constant consultation in design and project management with North Shore City and the Centennial Park Bush Society, who I see as the successors to the “Campbell’s Bay Beautification Society” who in 1939, planned and started the avenue before WW2 interfered and made it what it is today.
Paul Woodruffe
I grew up having the park as a back garden, from 1964 till 1979 when I left home. It was a place that I think directly influenced my becoming an artist and a landscape architect. It is the stories and history of the place that facinate me. My earliest memory is of a long drop being in the top field near Rae rd!