After two years of COVID disruptions, Canberra Services Club is hoping to draw the community back together to commemorate Anzac Day at the club's old site in Manuka.
The rest of the day will take place at the club's Barton site on Blackhall Street, with President Mike Kinniburgh projecting total attendance of anywhere between 400 to 1400 people throughout the day.
While fear and uncertainty still linger, Mr Kinniburgh expects the return of two-up will be a big draw card.
"One of the highest [inquiries] we have are people saying, 'Well would you have an Anzac Day this year? Will two-up be back?'"
Numbers at the club's dawn service have dwindled since the Manuka site burnt down in 2011, with a stalemate over plans for the site leaving it untouched since.
"The biggest crowds we had ... post the club burning down was a couple of thousand, but when the club was in full operation .... we had 3000 or 4000 people down there because there was plenty of room," he said.
The Supreme Court in January overturned a decision by ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman blocking the club's application to deconcessionalise the lease.
The club applied to vary the lease to build a mixed-use development including residential and commercial uses, arguing it would not be financially viable to rebuild the same clubhouse destroyed in the fire.
Minister Gentleman's move blocked the development in an effort to protect land designed for community use, but the court's judgment identified the decision-making process as flawed.
"It's been ... well not quite heartbreaking but on a good day you can see heartbreak from there," Mr Kinniburgh said. "It's quite sad, [myself and] the members are dismayed."
He isn't optimistic that the Supreme Court judgment would change the fate of the Manuka site.
"The minister can roll on and then go make another decision and still come up with the same answer, the court only found that the decision making process was flawed, not the decision."
Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson said this Anzac Day would be about encouraging people to gather together once more in person.
"In previous years what we've been saying to people was: 'We're encouraging you to gather in spirit instead of in person'. This year is the reverse of that, we're encouraging people to gather in person to commemorate."
The dawn service will not be a ticketed event, as it was last year, with up to 5000 expected to attend.
Numbers in the 30,000s had been usual in pre-COVID years, before border closures and restrictions required a more localised service last year, at which about 4,500 people gathered.
Controversial redevelopment works at the war memorial will see the traditional mid-morning national Anzac Day ceremony scrapped and impact where the march is held, but Mr Anderson said it won't cause any disruption.
"Instead of having the parade ground in front of the memorial and looking down over Anzac Parade ... we've moved the stone of remembrance from the front of the memorial over into the the Captain Reg Saunders courtyard and the sculpture garden.
"That then means this year people will actually be able to gather in the gardens, rather than on the parade ground so it won't affect the numbers at all," he said.
Information on the day's events at the Canberra Services Club is available here; the Australian War Memorial here.
