Development of the Campus - The 1950s

Changes to the funding of tertiary institutions in the late 1950s had an enormous impact on the development of the university and the campus. Following the Murray Report of 1957 and the establishment of the Universities Commission, the capital and recurrent funding for both existing and proposed universities increased dramatically. This resulted in the ability for the Canberra University College (CUC) to obtain Commonwealth funding to meet the educational demands of a growing city, with the college granted 138 acres in 1959 beside the site for the ANU. The following year, the ANU and the CUC amalgamated.     

Professor Denis Winston’s plan for the new university, which now incorporated the CUC, comprised “a series of open quadrangular buildings oriented along the University Avenue axis, which could be added to incrementally” (Banks & Gaardboe 1996, p.5). University Avenue and Sullivans Creek were central to the site plan and front of mind was the need for students and staff to be able to walk between buildings within ten minutes.  

The University was also expanding in a different area, with the ANU taking over management of the Commonwealth Solar Observatory at nearby Mount Stromlo, from the Commonwealth Department of the Interior in 1957.  

References

Banks, J & Gaardboe, M 1996, Building and Landscapes: the Australian National University, Canberra, ANU Divisions of Facilities and Services and Public Affairs, Canberra.   

Dexter, D 1991, The ANU Campus, Australian National University Press, Canberra.