Ailinga Street (City Walk) and Ainslie Avenue
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Australia's first fully-enclosed shopping complex was not located in the environs of either Sydney or Melbourne, but in the capital city of Canberra. MONARO ["muh-NAIR-oh"] SHOPPING MALL, which was also the earliest 3-level retail facility in the nation, was developed by the Sydney-based Lend Lease Corporation and designed by the Whitehead & Payne firm, also based in Sydney.
Construction commenced at a city-block site, located 1.8 miles northeast of the Australian Parliament, on July 17, 1961. The 2.5 million pound MONARO SHOPPING MALL was dedicated on March 6, 1963. Officiating at the inauguration ceremony was Prime Minister Robert G. Menzies. Also in attendance were Dame Pattie Menzies, G.I. Dusseldorp (Chairman of Lend Lease) and Sir Edgar Coles (Managing Director of G.J. Coles & Coy, Limited).
Each of the 3 levels of the MONARO SHOPPING MALL were geared toward specific stores and services. The Lower Ground Floor housed a bakery, butcher shop, fruit market and various other food and beverage vendors. Home furnishings and appliances were also on display in the basement of the Marcus Clark's store.
Men's wear, pharmaceuticals, shoes, books, stationery, jewelry and souvenirs were sold on the Ground Floor. The First Floor (or third level) was devoted entirely to women. Here, one would find dress shops, milliners, boutiques, hairdressers, a cafe' and 80-seat public auditorium.
Three works of art had been created by modernists Frank and Margel Hinder. A 10-by-6-foot glass mosaic, designed by Frank, covered an entire Ground Floor wall. His "Star Ceiling" glass mosaic was suspended above the main David Jones' exterior entrance. Margel crafted "Revolving Sphere," which was hung from the ceiling of the Central Hall atrium.
Shopping centres in the vicinity of MONARO SHOPPING MALL would eventually include WODEN PLAZA-WESTFIELD WODEN [1971] {5.2 miles southwest} and BELCONNEN MALL-WESTFIELD BELCONNEN [1978] {4.7 miles northwest}.
A 220 million dollar* expansion was built between 1987 and 1989. The existing MONARO MALL was worked into a new complex known as CANBERRA CENTRE, with three adjacent city blocks being developed with new retail structures.
To the southeast, the block bounded by Ailinga, Ainslie, Bunda and Akuna was filled by a 3-level (145,400 square foot), Sidney-based Grace Brothers and 3 floors of inline store space. An 18-bay (basement floor) Food Court was included as was a 12-storey office tower. The section of Ainslie Avenue running between MONARO MALL and the new retail structure was closed off, with a fully-enclosed Galleria linking the two components into one.
To the east, the block bounded by Bunda, Ainslie, Cooyong and Akuna contained a 1-level (75,000 square foot) Target discount department store. A single level of exterior-entranced retail spaces stretched along the southwest side of the structure.
The block bounded by Bunda, Petrie, Cooyong and Ainslie was also filled by a new building. This portion of the shopping precinct, known as the CITY MARKET, was tenanted by various fresh food vendors.
Target became the first new operational store in September 1989. CANBERRA CENTRE was officially dedicated on November 1, 1989, with Rosemary Follet (Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister) officiating. Existing David Jones and Venture stores had been refurbished. New tenants included Vamp Shoe Designers, Benetton, Maggie "T", Footlocker, Shoo Biz Shoes, R.M. Williams men's wear, Goldmark Jewellers and Sunglass World.
In March 1990, the Brisbane-based Queensland Investment Corporation acquired a 50-percent interest in CANBERRA CENTRE. In March of 1995, they established full ownership.
Further redevelopment of the shopping centre had been carried out in the two previous years. In 1993, the interior of the original MONARO MALL structure was reconfigured, with a new mallway and entrance cutting though to the corner of Bunda and Petrie Streets. In 1994, an Upper Level "Fashion Mall" was added to the existing CITY MARKET, with a rooftop car park built over the CITY MARKET and Target structures.
The first nameplate conversion at the centre involved the Marcus Clark's store, which became a Sydney-based Waltons in 1966. A new store was built on an adjacent city block, which was rebannered by the Venture discount chain in 1987. Venture, an Australian entity, was not affiliated with the United States chain. Oz-based Venture folded in 1994.
A 50 million dollar mall renovation commenced in November 2001. Three of the CANBERRA CENTRE-CITY MARKET structures were joined by enclosed Level 1 bridges. The official dedication of the renewed CANBERRA CENTRE was held on November 7, 2002. The complex now encompassed approximately 613,500 lettable square feet.
A third store conversion took place on February 13, 2004. Grace Brothers stores in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory were refitted with Myer nameplates. The next renovation of CANBERRA CENTRE got underway in 2005. The existing CITY MARKET structure was gutted, with a portion of its car park decks being refitted with retail spaces.
Two northwest blocks were also redeveloped. A 1-level (40,900 square foot) Supabarn supermarket was a Ground Level anchor of the North Quarter expansion. A 1-level (97,000 square foot) Big W discount department store was installed above Supabarn. This was joined by tenants such as Fitness First, Borders, JB Hi-Fi and Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream. The 9-screen Dendy Cinemas Canberra showed first features on May 19, 2007.
Tenants in the 355,000 square foot North Quarter addition began trading to the public on November 2, 2006, with the project officially dedicated on August 30, 2007. CANBERRA CENTRE now stretched over six city blocks, encompassed 963,300 lettable square feet, and contained 310 stores and services. The shopping precinct was now largest in the Australian Capital Territory.
More recent modifications include a Food Court One refurbishment, in 2013, and expansion of the existing Dendy Cinemas Canberra into a 2-level, 15-screen operation. This remodeled facility was rededicated on June 14, 2017. As this transpired, Ground Level space adjacent to David Jones was reconfigured. The Monaro Mall Beauty Precinct was created, which housed boutiques such as Mecca Maxima, Jurlique, Perfect Potion and LaserClinic.
Existing stores which relocated into the the area included Lush, L'Occitane en Provence, Crabtree & Evelyn and Napolean Perdis. An official grand opening was held on July 13, 2017. Swedish high-fashion retailer H & M opened a Level 1 CANBERRA CENTRE store on November 23rd of the same year.
* Prior to February 1966, the official currency in the Land Down Under was the Australian Pound. Decimal currency was introduced in 1966, when the Australian Dollar made its debut.
Sources:
The Canberra Times
http://www.naa.gov.au / National Archive of Australia
https://trove.nla.gov.au / National Library of Australia
http://www.worldlingo.com
http://www.canberracentre.com.au
http://www.architecture.com.au
http://www.findnearest.com
http://www.propertyoz.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au
http://www.ndy.com / Norman, Disney & Young architects
http://www.canberratimes.com.au
"Canberra Centre" article on Wikipedia
