Sourced from: Anon. 1969. "100 Super Shops: Grace Bros $12 mill complex". The Daily Mirror, November 6: 2.
Next week, I will do a special entry to focus on the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Macquarie Centre at North Ryde which will feature content from newspaper supplements that were published in 1981 to promote the opening of the shopping centre.
Ahead of next week, I share two newspaper articles from May 1968 when Grace Bros announced they had acquired 16 hectares of land in the area with the intention of building a regional shopping centre, and was seeking approval from Ryde Council to build the centre.
The Daily Telegraph (May 15, 1968) reported that the centre would be entirely "under-cover" unlike Roselands which they had built three years earlier with 600 000 square feet of retail space, containing 100 stores anchored by Grace Bros. If approved, the centre would open to shoppers by 1971 (Had this happened, I would be writing an entry celebrating 50 years of trade instead this year).
Source: Anon. 1968. "$12m. Shopping Centre Plan". The Daily Telegraph, May 15: 13.
The Sun (May 15, 1968) in addition to the above reported that the centre would act as a "cultural centre" integrating itself with Macquarie University, which was located directly opposite the proposed centre but also for the northern suburbs.
Source: Anon. 1968. "$12m Shopping Plan: 16 acre project near new uni". The Sun: May 16: 29.
Grace Bros were given approval to build in 1969 by the State Planning Authority after their proposal had been rejected by Ryde Council and decided to appeal the decision. At the same meeting, a proposal by David Jones to construct a rival shopping centre on Epping Road was rejected as their site was zoned for industrial use (Refer to my 2014 entry on their proposal for further details).
The Local Government Minister Pat Morton was convinced that the shopping centre would be successful drawing on Grace Bros success in planning, building and operating Roselands and felt it would be more successful (He would be right down the track).
Source: Anon. 1969. "Approval for $12m. centre". The Daily Telegraph, November 6: 7.
Source: Anon. 1969. "100 Super Shops: Grace Bros' $12 mill complex". The Daily Mirror, November 6: 2.
Ryde Council gave their approval for the centre in 1972.
Source: Anon. 1972. "$12m shopping centre approved". The Sydney Morning Herald, June 27: 1.
Intended opening date was 1975 as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald on June 27, 1972 (see above).
Construction did not commence until 1979.
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