Broadway is a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

in inner city

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The road constitutes the border between the suburbs of Ultimo (to the north) and Chippendale (to the south). Broadway is also an urban locality. Broadway connects the south end of George Street where it terminates at the junction with Harris and Regent streets, and runs west to the junction of Parramatta Road and City Road at Victoria Park. Broadway and Parramatta Road are part of the

Great Western Highway Great Western Highway (also known as Broadway from to , Parramatta Road from Chippendale to , and Church Street through Parramatta) is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurs ...

History

Broadway is historically important because it is one of the first roads built in the colony of New South Wales, in 1794. It had been called " George Street South" and then "George Street West". After being widened in 1906 when the Central railway station was built, George Street west of Railway Square, it became known as "The Broadway".Widening the streets - City of Sydney website
This name was subsequently shortened to just "Broadway". In the early nineteenth century, travel to Parramatta on Parramatta Road attracted a toll and this was charged from the area now known as Railway Square. The toll gate was subsequently moved to the approximate junction of the present Broadway and Parramatta Road. St Benedict's Church on Parramatta Road (now incorporated into the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

campus) is the oldest consecrated Catholic Church in Australia. It was the parish church of Norman Gilroy, the first Australian to become a cardinal. Broadway was once a major retailing centre, and for 90 years was home to the flagship complex of department store chain

Grace Brothers Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were re ...

. The complex consisted of two stores on either side of Bay Street. It was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

during her 1954 visit to Australia. Retailing on Broadway declined and the store was eventually closed in 1995. Today this site contains the

Broadway Shopping Centre Broadway Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Sydney, located in the Broadway locality. It features a 500-seat Food Court and Hoyts 12-screen cinema complex along with major retailers Kmart, Coles, Target, Aldi, Dymocks Booksellers, J ...

on the western side and th
UniLodge on Broadway
on the eastern side. The southern side of the road was dominated by the Carlton & United brewery. The brewery closed in December 2006 and the site was sold on 29 June 2007. The site has been redeveloped into a mixed use precinct called

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, which includes a new public park located just off Broadway of approximately in size, and a new tower called One Central Park designed by Jean Nouvel and featuring "vertical gardens" by Patrick Blanc. Located opposite the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, One Central Park is an apartment complex with a shopping centre called Central located on the lower levels.

Transport

Broadway was a busy

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 ...

thoroughfare in the first half of the 20th century, until the line's closure in 1958. Since then it has been the primary entry point into the central business district for bus services from the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River ...

currently operated by

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

Education

A number of educational institutions are located on or around Broadway. These include the

International Grammar School ("Unity Through Diversity") , city = Ultimo , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 250 , pushpin ...

(IGS),

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form ...

(UTS),

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and the

Sydney Institute of TAFE TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...

. UTS has a particularly strong presence. The UTS Tower is the tallest structure on Broadway and is a Sydney landmark. Designed in the

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style, it has been described as one of Sydney's ugliest buildings. An adjacent building on Broadway designed by Denton Corker Marshall was completed in 2014. There are also plans to redesign the podium of the tower.

Other buildings

Image:Broadway Bank.JPG, The Embassy Conference Centre is a historic building, built in the 1890s as the first branch of the Bank of New South Wales. File:Sutherlands Hotel, Chippendale.JPG, Bar Broadway File:County Clare Inn, Chippendale.JPG, The Clare Hotel File:Agincourt Hotel, Chippendale.JPG, Agincourt Hotel File:The Abercrombie Hotel.jpg, Abercrombie Hotel File:Chippendale University of Notre Dame.JPG, St Benedicts church with the

behind. File:Central Park apartments, Sydney.jpg, Central Park apartments File:UTS Sydney 04.jpg,

UTS Central UTS Central, also known as Building 2, is the building housing the Faculty of Law and UTS Library at the University of Technology Sydney. It is the final building to be opened under the A$1 billion City Campus Master Plan. The building is desi ...

as viewed at night File:The UTS Tower on Broadway.jpg, UTS Tower building in the background File:Sydney Central Park.jpg, One Central Park apartments File:(1)Federation Warehouse Broadway Sydney.jpg, Federation-era warehouse

In popular culture

Part of the video for singer

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's 1983 single " Let's Dance", took place on Broadway in front of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

References

External links

* C-By-SA {{Sydney City of Sydney suburbs Sydney localities Streets in Sydney