Nelson’s war memorial decided at last

In May 1919, discussions began on a suitable war memorial site and design.

A memorial committee was formed and canvassed for ideas which included; a mausoleum of marble in Anzac Park, monument on the church steps, swimming baths, a monument in the Cemetery, a piece of art, a miniature Statue of Liberty at Anzac Park, damming the Maitai to make a lake for boating purposes with a monument at the mouth, a circular lake at Queens Gardens, a boat harbour and baths off Weka St, a column on Botanical Hill, an equestrian statue, a stone pavilion with seats, a drinking fountain, and a pyramid.

By June, three options remained, these being; Botanical Hill, Cathedral Steps and Anzac Park but all were ruled out as being unsuitable.

An alternative suggestion was an arch over the bridge across Maitai River on Trafalgar St, but with many still interested in the Botanical Hill site, the council was approached to reconsider, but this was denied. The RSA then suggested a statue of a ‘Digger’ in trench kit at the Church Steps.

In an attempt to settle the issue, another round of proposals were submitted by ballot, with three to be ruled out; (1) the ‘Digger’ on the Church Steps. (2) Extension of Anzac Park and memorial gates. (3) Obelisk on Zig Zag. (4) a garden memorial at the west end of Wakatu Lane. Proposal one, the ‘Digger’ in front of the Church Steps was the most popular but the mayor was opposed to council money being used for this site.

With no decision made by May 1922 it was back to the drawing board, and another site on Trafalgar St was suggested, but some were not ready to give up the fight for the foot of the church steps.  The mayor indicated he would oppose “tooth and nail” the proposal to put the memorial at the foot of the steps because if there was an accident due to the memorials position in obstructing movement of people, the council would be liable.

Out of the blue, another proposal was placed before the mayor to construct a 13-chain remembrance avenue of trees from Auckland Point to meet at a point in Waimea St (now Rutherford St) about 10 chains north of Anzac Park with blocks of marble, inscribed and placed on each side of the entrances.  This was approved by the council, but disagreements continued and by August 1922, there was still no consensus on the site, so the committee again requested that the council agree on Trafalgar St but this was again turned down.

Within a month the avenue option had been dropped as, in September 1922, a tender was accepted for the erection of a base for the memorial on the Church Hill, not at the base of the steps but further up to be accessed by a path and a flight of steps.  The memorial was of a life-sized soldier in full field kit, mounted on a granite pedestal, supported by four marble columns and a granite shaft, upon each side of which was inscribed by statements; “Greater love hath no man than this that, a man lay down his life for his friends,” “Lest we forget,” ‘‘To our glorious dead”, and “Their name liveth for evermore.”  The space from the outer edge of the base to the foot of the pedestal was to be filled with a rockery to grow ferns, creeping plants and flowers. After almost four years of to-ing and fro-ing the memorial was unveiled on 11 November 1923, (Armistice Day) by his Lordship the Bishop of Nelson in the presence of a very large crowd.