Anzac Day services in Queenstown are likely to be reversed next year if the proposed upgrade of the Memorial Gates and Marine Pde is completed in time.
Marine Pde is set for a $129,000 revamp by the Queenstown Lakes District Council in consultation with the Queenstown Returned and Services Association (RSA).
The upgrade will include new commemorative plaques on the gates as well as new lighting, a footpath along the road section of the parade, and a flagpole.
Some vegetation will be removed from around the gates.
Community trusts could be approached for funding the proposed decorative coloured uplights for each birch tree along the parade.
However, the kerb line will not be changed and existing parking spaces will not be removed.
RSA president David Geddes said it was proposed that small bronze plaques be installed on the gate walls to com-memorate each theatre of war New Zealand had fought in, beginning with the Boer War of 1899 to 1902.
The association would talk with the Ministry of Defence and Veterans' Affairs New Zealand to determine which was the most recent conflict the country had engaged in.
The enhancements to the memorial gates would dovetail with plans by the RSA to reverse the Anzac Day parade next year, starting it at the Queenstown Memorial Hall and marching through the central business area to a service at the gates.
Traditionally, the parade has formed at the gates and marched through town to a service at the hall.
However, Queenstown Bay and Lake Wakatipu were among the cherished thoughts of home recorded by service personnel in letters to loved ones.
There was also a question mark over the future of the 54-year-old hall whereas the 87-year-old gates were understood to be there permanently.
"We want to focus on one area and the feeling was the gates should be the focus and it was time it was spruced up," Mr Geddes said.
"The bay and lake are what Queenstown is about and it's probably the area the fallen soldiers would hold more dearly than the location of the memorial hall."
Mr Geddes said RSA members were being canvassed for their thoughts on adding a dawn service to next year's Anzac Day commemoration.
The dawn service would cater for the Wakatipu's growing population and the ongoing yearly increase in public interest in attending the tribute.
The QLDC was inviting public feedback on its proposal to reverse the angled parking on Marine Pde, which could provide an extra three spaces.
All spaces will have the same 30-minute time restriction between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Sunday, as now exists.
If the council decided to reverse the angled parking, it would be completed by next March or earlier, coinciding with the council's proposed Church St upgrade.
Wilsons car park is owned by the council and its contract is being reviewed to encourage short-stay parking of four hours or under, as opposed to the existing long-term parking provision.
The move was designed to offer greater accessibility to the central business district for shoppers and visitors, QLDC transportation manager Denis Mander said.
