Soldiers Memorial OvalPrint Page

The Soldiers Memorial Oval commemorates those who have served in the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

In the 1955, representatives of Hobart High School approached the Council pressing for the creation of a new and larger oval near the Cross Roads to provide much needed facilities for the fast-growing high school. There was no clear decision but much discussion over the next few years and while the original suggestion was for a small oval that would not touch the Avenue, plans soon expanded to a full sized oval.  Protracted negotiations began between the Education Department and the Hobart City Council to establish the final size of the oval and the relative contributions with the Department wanting to maximise their exclusive access and the Council wanting to ensure the Department paid at least half the cost. The Department pulled out and the idea as shelved until a new tip site was needed.  Various options was violently opposed; the solution came with the suggestion to put the tip at the Cross Roads with added bonus for later conversion to an oval.

An approach was made to the RSL in relation to moving Avenue trees that would be lost due to the oval and an onsite inspection was conducted. It was agreed that the trees would be replanted and the new oval named the Soldiers Memorial Oval. The proposal drew hated criticism over a period from some veterans and descendants.  Typical was the comment of  Dr Nigel Abbott, who wrote “Conversion of the northern end of the memorial to a rubbish tip, for however short a time, would be a disfigurement, an act beyond neglect.” In the end over 80 trees were bulldozed and the current Avenue disappears into the slope of the oval with a small remnant of eight trees exists hidden in the copse at the Cross Roads.

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