Our photographer has been active around the Australian War Memorial, updating us on the $548m (and counting) redevelopment program. Photographs were taken 26-30 June.
The Audit Office’s different type of snapshot – it was scathing – of the management of the War Memorial Project, Lest We Forget (Senate Estimates clearly did forget, mentioning the Audit Office report not once during a 12 minute triumph of accountability).
Memorial management has always insisted (for example, here) that the southern facade of the Memorial will remain unchanged by the redevelopment. Really? Compare that with the pre-redevelopment facade in the next picture.
Work on the Bean Building, to the right of the main entrance.
‘Pull up a bollard!’ A famous line from The Goon Show (BBC Radio) of many years ago; some elements of the Memorial’s Big Build have been a worthy subject for satire.
Beyond the bollards.
5 July 2024
Appalling works to date. The changed facade forms a barrier instead of the open vista and deliberate link with MOAD and PH.
It’s contrary to both good planning and design, and should never gave been approved by the National Capital Authority.
Clearly, it’s a case of mismanagement from the beginning.
The AWM wasn’t broken, attracted the most tourists to Canberra before the redevelopment was even thought of.
The AWM is well and truly broken.
Dreadful