Familiar Anzac fronds to be unfurled next to Chch poppies

The new-look fronds will sit at the Anzac Drive-New Brighton Rd intersection. Image: Newsline / CCC
The new-look fronds will sit at the Anzac Drive-New Brighton Rd intersection. Image: Newsline / CCC
The poppies at the Anzac Drive-New Brighton Rd intersection in Christchurch will soon be joined by some familiar fronds.

Repurposed to honour the Anzac story, the new-look fronds at the intersection will align with the Poppies over Gallipoli sculpture on the corner of Anzac Drive and Travis Rd.

The Anzac Fronds, originally installed on Anzac Bridge, will sit in the reserve on a corner of the roundabout after being organised into new forms.

The four, freestanding frond stands, featuring the fronds which were originally on the bridge light poles, are expected to be installed in their concrete bases by the end of June.

The fronds, made of pre-weathered steel, have been in storage for several years.

In a precautionary step, workers removed the original long art pieces from the bridge following the 2010-11 earthquakes.

Waitai/Coastal-Burwood Community Board chairman Kelly Barber said the artwork marks an important period for residents.

“To many, the fronds symbolise Aotearoa New Zealand and subtly remind us to engage with our past,” he says.

“In their new home, a few hundred metres from the original site on the Anzac Bridge, the fronds also magnificently capture the natural environment that now surrounds them.”