The Resonance of History and Memory: Interpretive Plaques and Photographs Documenting the Heritage-Listed Buildings.

The first of a series of interpretive plaques incorporating texts and historical photographs will be installed at NewActon in the near future, paying respect to the fact that the Hotel Acton was entered on the Register of the National Estate in 1999.

These texts and photographs will document for residents and visitors the old Hotel Acton’s role in providing accommodation from 1927 forward for single public service officers, families intending to purchase or rent houses in the developing suburbs, or visitors to the new national capital.

They also remind visitors of the buildings’ subsequent re-use, after the closing of the original Hotel, for remarkable other functions such as the Patent, Trade Marks, Design and Copyright Office, the Supreme Court of the ACT, the Canberra University College, the ACT Police, and from 1976 to 1999, its important role in housing the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.

In the coming months, heritage photographs documenting this remarkable history will be sourced, re-printed, and installed at NewActon with the permission of the National Library and National Archives, increasing the sense of resonance and meaning in this rich place for its residents and visitors.