Walter Burley Griffin plans for a stadium to be built on the lake in Canberra

He wanted the lake to be the heart of Canberra. A place for people to come together, and then walk straight into a "national stadium".

His plans from 1913, and options drawn up by early ACT public servants, may hold the key to reigniting the city's stadium debate.

Because while Chief Minister Barr has driven the where, when and how details for the past 13 years, the idea of having a stadium smack bang in the middle of Canberra has been around for more than a century.

You can see it on a Departmental Board design in 1912, with a national stadium located on the site now known as Kings Park.

And it's there again on Griffin's plans a year later, but he moved it from Kings Park to Rond Terrace to anchor a "recreational group" for sports, festivals and events.

The Canberra Times is aware of a group of capital industry bodies who have been working to find ways to put a Civic stadium back on the agenda, despite Barr saying it had become too costly and complicated.

It is true Canberrans have become tired of the stadium debate. Even those at the coalface - the ACT Brumbies and Canberra Raiders - are exhausted by the changes. Bruce, Civic and Exhibition Park have all been floated as options, but after more than a decade of talk there's still nothing to show for it.

The realisation that a centrally-located stadium was on Griffin's plans from the start won't end the long-running debate. Several elements of Griffin's designs have been tinkered with, or ignored, over the years.

But maybe it's enough to at least start the conversation again, and engage the National Capital Authority and federal government about making sure the stadium location choice is the right one, not the easy one.

"The NCA supports the development of a vibrant and dynamic city and capital in all the modern and innovative ways possible," an NCA spokesperson said after being asked about Griffin's stadium plans.

"At this stage, the NCA has not been approached with a proposal for a stadium. If the NCA does receive a proposal, as with all works approval applications, the NCA will form a decision based on merits and what the proposal will mean for the city and the national capital."

Barr all but killed the Civic dream three months ago when he said putting a stadium on the Civic pool site would require Parkes Way to be moved.

RELATED STADIUM NEWS

The logistics and potential of cost blowouts led him to declare a redevelopment at Bruce was the No. 1 priority, with Exhibition Park considered as the back up.

He has never completely shut the door on Civic, though. Which has given some sporting administrators and business leaders hopes he will reconsider if the right proposal can be found.

New Raiders chairman Dennis Richardson first raised Griffin's stadium plan when he stepped into the role in October. Before then, the stadium in the city debate was about the future, with no links to the past.

Most people with an interest in the stadium are united behind the Civic idea. There are well-founded fears that rebuilding at Bruce will do little to improve game-day atmosphere or generate extra activity for Canberra cafes, restaurants and hotels.

Griffin planted his seed well before the Raiders and Brumbies existed, but his reasoning appears to still be relevant today.

The stadium, he said, would be "recessed into the slope of the bank, where it does not interrupt the continuous vista along the land axis." That is probably not possible given the size of modern stadiums, and the Civic pool location is not the same as Rond Terrace.

"If the Government Group was intended to be the heart and heartbeat of 'official' Canberra, the National Stadium, on the opposite shore, provided a fitting emblem of the 'people's' Canberra," the National Capital Authority said in The Griffin Legacy in 2004.

"The stadium, flanked by the national theatre and Opera House, anchored what Griffin considered to be the second most important public function in the ensemble of Federal Groups, the Recreation Group.

"It was to be the focus for the sporting events and festivals of the city, and the showcase of the nation's finest cultural institutions. It occupied a prominent location in the grand civic composition, on the Land Axis overlooking the central basin and Government Group."

Griffin's plans have been altered many times over the years as Canberra has grown. The series of designs underpin Canberra's earliest stages of development that continue to inform planning decisions, but there is no obligation to follow it.

In The Griffin Legacy, a book published by the NCA, urban designer James Weirick added: "The park way would be filled with crowds of people spilling onto its concourse to go about their daily business; to attend sporting events in the National Stadium; to visit the opera, theatre, or museums; to go shopping

"... To stand first on the northern shore of the lake, would be to experience the full impact of Griffin's symbolic schema - the brilliant sunlit ensemble of public institutions - in all its power.

"This great prospect would also be visible from the stands of the National Stadium, where the contained spectacle of the sporting contest and the roar of the crowd, would set the dynamics, the immediacy ... of contemporary life against the gravitas of national government."

Griffin saw it from the beginning. The hope is the ACT government will be able to see it again, as well.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: