Queen Street Mall, Brisbane

The Queen Street Mall is a mall on Queen Street in the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Brisbane's predominant retail district, featuring shopping centres, hotels, restaurant and coffee shops, cinemas, clothing, music, jewellery and book stores, newsagencies, and banks. The mall attracts 26 million visitors a year. [ [http://www.ourbrisbane.com/visitors/shopping/queenstreetcity/ OurBrisbane.com - Queen Street] , retrieved 15 January, 2007.]

History

Opened in two stages, the first stage of the Queen Street Mall was opened in time for the Brisbane 1982 Commonwealth Games, and extended between Queen Street and Edward Street, to Queen Street and Albert Street.

The second stage, further extending the Mall from Queen Street and Albert Street to Queen Street and George Street, was opened in time for Brisbane's hosting of World Expo '88.

Features

The Mall prides itself on being the 'one-stop shop' for all retail in Brisbane, with access to numerous eateries, shopping destinations and more, all within a smart grey slate rendered footpath finish, with Australian native tree and flowering shrub enclosures, bench seating on the sides, and flowering vines and art work.

The Mall itself also hosts four 24-hour restaurants and coffee shops, Milano's fine a la carte European dining at the top of the Mall (George Street), Jimmy's on the Mall, for Chinese and Asian food in the centre of the Mall, Cafe East for eastern and western fusion, and the Pig 'n' Whistle for traditional British pub fare, at the bottom of the Mall (Edward Street).

It also features two newsagencies, one at the centre of the Mall 'Rankins', and another at the bottom of the Mall, and an extensive Visitors Information Centre near the Centre of the Mall. An entertainment stage for music, model shows, and other performances features at the near the top of the Mall.

In the development of stage one and stage two of the Mall, significant heritage-listed building facades were preserved, giving the Mall a wonderful restored yesteryear feeling.

hopping Centres

Several important and large shopping centres were opened along the Mall at the same time, including the Wintergarden (1982) and The Myer Centre (1988). Queens Plaza, at the bottom of the Mall incorporating David Jones was opened in two stages, stage I in 2005,and stage II in 2008.

Other notable shopping centres that line the Mall include Broadway on the Mall, and the art deco arcades the Brisbane Arcade and Tattersall's Arcade.

Refurbishment

The mall also underwent refurbishment in 1999 from its signature terracotta tile footpath to a grey slate tile footpath, with several significant art commissions and new tree and shrub enclosures (with bench seating) throughout.

Further developments

In 2006 the other end of the George Street engagement with the Mall ('top of the Mall') saw the opening of Brisbane Square which further extended the grey slate tile rendering of the Mall, and, in 2008 extension of the Mall along Albert Street to the corner of Albert Street and Edward Street.

Miscellaneous

Beneath the Queen Street Mall and The Myer Centre is the Queen Street Bus Station.

Management of the mall is covered by The Local Government (Queen Street Mall) Act, a state government act, which also originally granted the Queensland Police specific powers within the confines of the mall. However, these powers have been repealed with the introduction of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act. Fact|date=July 2008

Photos of Queen Street Mall

References

External links

* [http://www.queenstreetmall.com.au/ Official site for Queen Street Mall]