1981: A long wait for the call from the AMP's minaret (Newspaper feature)

Sydney Tower is just weeks away from celebrating its 45th Birthday, but this 1981 newspaper feature focused on delays in its opening. 

It was not meant to open in September 1981, but plans had it opening early that year, except that it was too windy and rainy to warrant an opening. July was also considered as an opening date. 

For retailers in Centrepoint, it was frustrating that they wanted the tower to open as soon as possible to lure tourists to their shops, but they were still optimistic. Sydney Tower would open, and the hordes would come.

Fast forward 45 years, ownership has changed hands. AMP sold the centre and tower to Westfield in 2001, and it was rebranded as Westfield Centrepoint. In 2009, a major redevelopment project merged Westfield Centrepoint, Imperial Arcade and Skygarden into one retail complex. Westfield also acquired Sydney Central Plaza in 2003 and, in recent years, under the Scentre Group, purchased the former David Jones Market Street store, which is now a mixed-use retail, commercial, and residential complex, to expand its footprint in central Sydney. 

Westfield Sydney is regarded as a flagship retail complex within the Scentre Group and has been highly successful in attracting major labels and luxury brands into the centre. A total of 269 retailers trade in the complex

And, as in 1981, the overwhelming majority still have to reach the entrance to Sydney Tower through the centre and navigate the escalators and shops en route. 

Source: Lawson, L 1981. "A long wait for the call from the AMP's minaret". The Sydney Morning Herald, February 28:42.