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Colonel Light Survey Marker to be Part of New RAH

The Colonel Light Survey Marker is to be temporarily moved into storage while the new Royal Adelaide Hospital is being built.

The bronze tablet on a granite obelisk has sat on the corner of North and West Terraces since it was unveiled on 16 July 1929 to commemorate the start of the surveying of the city of Adelaide by Colonel William Light on 11 January 1837.

A representative from Artlab will carry out a condition assessment report and photography and heritage masons will carefully dismantle the marker and prepare it for indoor storage at a Kurralta Park facility.

“The monument will be restored before being placed among the new hospital landscape, bringing an important part of Adelaide’s history into its future,” Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood said.

Colonel Light completed the preliminary survey of the 1042 acres in the city of Adelaide in two months, despite problems and the shortage of assistants.

The survey of the new city was finished by the middle of March and the Town Acres were allotted to preliminary purchasers – those who had bought land before leaving England – by lot, while the remaining acres were sold by auction.

Light envisaged a cathedral would be built on Victoria Square and Government House was also placed in a different position than in his original plan. The Park Lands surrounding the city separating it from the suburbs are regarded as one of the city’s best features and a perennial memorial to Light.

Minister for Health Hon John Hill said, "It's good to know that this important monument will be taken care of while the new RAH is being built. Colonel Light's vision for Adelaide included a hospital of course and now Australia's most advanced hospital is being built on this significant site."

Chris Pratt, HYLC Joint Venture Development Director said, “Great care will be taken of this historic marker which means so much to the people of South Australia. We look forward to the day it will be returned to the site – a time which will indicate completion of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.”

www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

www.cityofadelaide.com.au

 

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