Campbell Arcade is a pedestrian

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

located in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. The arcade is accessible from

Flinders Street station Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...

and was built in 1955 to ensure crossing between Flinders Street and Melbourne's main train station was safer. It was completed ahead of the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Degraves St exit from Flinders St Station Dec 2012

Campbell Arcade also connects to two staircases leading to the northern and southern sides of Flinders Street. The arcade's salmon pink tiles, black marble pillars and

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

shopfronts are its original decor. Tramlines also run directly above the arcade. Campbell Arcade is listed under the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

and on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

, under the listing for

(H1083). The Arcade itself was specifically added to the listing in 2015, "recognising its architectural qualities and historical significance", as the "first infrastructure to be built in the city following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

" and as the centre of the city's suburban commuter railway system. Since construction it has always been a

shopping arcade A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

. Before the

City Loop The City Loop (originally called the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop or MURL) is a mostly-underground and partly surface-level subway and rail system in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Loop includes ...

distributed passengers to Melbourne's other train stations the arcade was far busier, though around 70,000 commuters still pass through of a morning. The pedestrian thoroughfare includes a bar, a coffee shop, hairdressers and a record store. Between 1994 and 2015 artworks were also displayed by the resident Platform Artists Group. This has since been taken over by The Dirty Dozen, an initiative of City of Melbourne's Creative Spaces. The arcade was also the former home of beloved Indie jewellery sho
Corky Saint Clair
which has since moved to Swanston Street, Melbourne.

References

{{coord missing, Victoria (Australia) Streets in Melbourne City Centre Buildings and structures in Melbourne City Centre Shopping arcades in Australia Shopping centres in Melbourne Shopping malls established in 1955

See also

References