Limestone Avenue – Have A Seat

You won’t find this in the guide books. While thousands of Canberrans drive past them daily I doubt if many people would even remember seeing them. I have never seen any one use them.

I refer to two park benches in the median strip of Limestone Avenue, Ainslie. One at the northern end, where Limestone Avenue meets Girrahween Street, the other at the southern end, where Batman & Quick Streets enter Limestone Avenue.

Limestone Avenue was the first ‘presentation avenue’ in Canberra and by way of gift to the city the Australian Natives Association (ANA), in 1928, lined a stretch of the median strip with native trees.

While the ANA’s intentions were much grander (the Great Depression intervened), to mark the ends of the planted area, in 1931-32, the ANA ended up installing the two modest art-deco ornamental benches you see today.

 

An interesting thing you will note is that the benches were installed facing out from the tree lined area – like bookends, if you like.

Art-deco style was popular in Canberra (as it was elsewhere) at this time. Close by in Donaldson Street you will find another great example of art-deco architecture – Ainslie Primary School.

Note how the ANA is referred to as the Australian Natives Association on one plaque and Australian Native Association on the other – A somewhat different connotation nowadays if not in the 1930s.

Nowadays Limestone Avenue is better known for its heavy traffic (especially at peak times) than its median strip trees (many of which have died anyway) and park benches. That said the benches do create in ones mind a sense of the formality of days gone by.

Worth a look if you are in the area.

Address: Limestone Avenue
Directions: The first bench is located about 300m down Limestone Avenue from the Australian War Memorial.

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