A permanent home for Floriade has been a long-running issue for the ACT government, which commissioned a study in 2009 to look for a permanent site. The study, not released until this week, considered Commonwealth Park, the east lakes foreshore adjoining the Jerrabomberra wetlands, and the National Arboretum as long-term sites, and plumped for the arboretum.
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It said Commonwealth Park was the best option for the short to medium term but not the long term. The landscape was "mature to over-mature and is in decline", works approvals were strict, the need to use temporary infrastructure meant ever increasing costs, and there was limited parking.
The east lakes foreshore was not zoned for major events, had no room for growth, needed contaminant remediation and was subject to flooding, the study found. Floriade would not be harmonious with the environmental values of the site, and the climate was an issue, with limited protection from wind and colder temperatures for developing the bulbs.
The arboretum was the best long-term option because it had good topography and the opportunity to incorporate the design into the site, space for growth, and a "high synergy of theme".
It would cost $55 million to create a permanent site for Floriade at the arboretum, it found.
It recommended Floriade remain at Commonwealth Park for eight years while work was done at the arboretum.
If the government rejected the arboretum as a permanent site, Commonwealth Park was the next best option, the report said. Staying at Commonwealth Park would mean spending $29 million on upgrades, or $109 million if an underground car park was built at Anzac Parade.
A spokesman for Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government did not agree at the time that the event should be moved from Commonwealth Park.
Floriade is 26 years old, the first festival being held at Commonwealth Park in 1988. It attracted a record 482,000 visitors last year. In 2010, 472,000 people attended, but numbers fell back in the three years following, until last year's resurgence.
Floriade courted controversy in 1998 when the Liberal government introduced an entry fee. It lasted three years, but the fences that accompanied the entry fee have continued to enclose the park each year.
