With the open-air shopping centre now firmly established in Australia, the next logical step was to the fully-enclosed "pedestrian precinct." Canberra, Australia's capital, beat Sydney and Melbourne to the punch with the completion of its MONARO ["Muh-NAIR-oh"] SHOPPING MALL, which began trading to the public on March 6, 1963.
The MONARO SHOPPING MALL originally encompassed approximately 220,000 lettable square feet and housed sixty-one tenants. Billed as "A whole city block under one roof," the complex was also the nation's first 3-level shopping centre. It has been known as CANBERRA CENTRE since November 1989.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com / "Canberrahouse"
