Westfield Geelong is a

shopping centre 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 ...

located in the Geelong CBD in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

which was opened in 1988. It was formerly known as Westfield Bay City before the 2008 redevelopment, and as Bay City Plaza before being acquired by the

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

in 2003. The centre is located on the northern side of Malop Street opposite the

Market Square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Myer Emporium Limited. The store was rebuilt in 1952, and in August 1953 changed its name to Myer. The Myer store was incorporated into the new development. The corner of Brougham and Yarra Streets was occupied by the

Melbourne Electric Supply Company The Australian state of Victoria has a number of defunct energy supply and distribution utility companies. The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated an electri ...

office building, and the Geelong Power Station, which dated back to 1901. A

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

was built to the south when trams commenced operation in Geelong in 1912. The tram depot closed in 1956 along with the Geelong tram network. The power station closed in the 1960s when replaced by a new plant at

North Geelong North Geelong is a suburb of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. The suburb was bypassed by traffic from Melbourne coming from the Princes Freeway by the creation of the Geelong Ring Road, which was complete in 2009. At the , North Geelo ...

. The next building to the west was occupied by the offices of Geelong transport company, Blakiston's and Co. Adjacent was

The Geelong Club The Geelong Club is a private social club originally established in 1859 originally as the Western Club, since most of its members were from outside Geelong in the Western District. After a period of inactivity the club reformed in 1874, and the ...

clubrooms which were opened in 1889 and continues to be occupied by the Geelong Club today. The corner of Brougham and Moorabool Streets was occupied by the Strachan Murray and Shannon woolstores. The woolstore dated back to the 1940s, and was extended eastwards towards the Geelong Club building in 1952 when the adjacent Mack's Hotel was purchased and demolished.

Initial proposals

The 1980s saw the first of many

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

proposals floated for the area. The

Geelong Regional Commission Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River ...

on 6 November 1981 released a plan that would see a massive shopping centre extend from Little Malop Street though to the waterfront. This proposal did not proceed, but a scaled down version of the plans can be seen in the Market Square Shopping Centre and Bay City Plaza developments that did proceed.

As 'Bay City Plaza'

Construction of Bay City Plaza commenced in the mid 1980s. Corio and Blakiston Streets were closed, as was Macks Lane. The former power station was totally demolished, with the Strachan woolstores, Blakistons's offices and tram depot stripped internally, with only the facades reused. The Myer store remained, albeit with minor modifications and an altered facades along Malop Street. The centre was opened by then Victorian State Premier John Cain on 15 April 1988. The centre was under the ownership of the

Perron Group Perron may refer to: People * Count Perron ( it, Conte de Perron; ), Sardinian ambassador and secretary of state * Ernest Perron (1908–1961), a Swiss man who became politically powerful in Iran * Pierre Cuillier-Perron (1753–1834), a French m ...

. Little change occurred to the centre itself until 1993 when a minor refurbishment occurred. An additional multi-storey

carpark A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

was built by the Perron Group in the late 1990s. Known as the "Malop Street Carpark", it was located between Malop Street and Corio Street to the east of the existing shopping centre, on the site of a former council carpark. The site is now part of the current expansion works to the centre. On 30 June 2003 the

sold a 50% share of Bay City Plaza to the

for $72 million. The renaming of the centre soon followed. After Westfield's acquisition of the centre, the new management increased the percentage of lettable area inside the complex, with new walkways constructed and the main atrium filled with additional stores and kiosks.

Redevelopment

The early 2000s saw proposals floated for the expansion of the shopping centre, utilising a flyover over Yarra Street, but this was met with a negative response from the community. The flyover was criticised for blocking views of

Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Willi ...

from Yarra Street, and that the bridge was not just a walkway but an overhead carpark, shopping strip and roadway on a similar scale to the multi-level retail/pedestrian bridge at

Westfield Southland Westfield Southland (previously known as Southland Centre) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Cheltenham in Melbourne. Southland has a floor area of 129,180m², making it one of the biggest shopping centres in Australia by size. There are ap ...

. The development was given approval on 21 June 2006 and construction commenced in February 2007 and resulted in major closures to various parts of the centre, with

Big W Big W (stylized as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of Woolworths Group and as at 2019 operated 176 stores, with around 22,000 employee ...

to be the key tenant of the Yarra Street section. A number of smaller shops on both the ground and first floors were temporary closed, along with the Coles

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

and the eastern pedestrian entry from Yarra Street. Part of the main multi-level carpark has been closed, as well as the Yarra Street access ramp and the Malop Street Carpark. Treacy Place as well as the eastern section of Corio Street have been permanently closed and are now covered by the centre. During construction in April 2008 a fire broke inside the complex taking two hours to extinguish, and in May 2008 a tradesman was injured when pinned against a beam while operating a cherry picker. Stage 1 including the Coles supermarket and surrounding area opened on 17 April 2008, while the Big W store, another 80 stores, the restaurant precinct, the glass tower on the Malop Street corner and the Yarra Street flyover were opened on 17 July. Before redevelopment the centre had 67 stores and 1121 car parks, today it has 187 stores and 1700 car parks. The total cost of the works was $200 million. The works have resulted in an increase in the percentage of lettable area in the complex, with the majority of the main central atrium being filled in. The opening of complex has also led to a decline in strip shopping on Moorabool Street, with many empty shops and few customers. The head of the Central Geelong marketing committee, Mark Davis, expressed concern that despite the expanded shopping centre being a boost for the city, it will make life tougher for smaller traders, who would need to "figure out how their business fitted into the city's new shopping environment".

Tenants

Myer Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australia, Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

12,500 m² ''which was continually redeveloped throughout 2008 as part of a nationwide refurbishment program'' *

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

discount department store 8,800 m² * Coles supermarket, was 5,000 m² but a smaller store was reopened 17 April 2008 with 9 aisles *

discount department store A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down cost ...

. * 187 specialty stores. * Three

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. I ...

s: an alfresco area on Yarra Street, cafes on the flyover, and a third under the main atrium.

References

Other references

*Beg, Peter. (1990). ''Geelong - The First 150 Years''. Globe Press.

External links

Official website
* Photos
Bay City plaza through the years
* Photos
Construction in 2007-08
{{Shopping centres in Victoria Buildings and structures in Geelong Westfield Group Shopping centres in Victoria (Australia) Shopping malls established in 1988 Economy of Geelong 1988 establishments in Australia