Meridian Mall, Dunedin
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The Meridian Mall is a large shopping complex in
Dunedin, New Zealand Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
designed by ASA Crone Architects, an Australian development company. At it is the largest retail mall in the southern
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
, and one of the largest in the South Island as a whole.


History

The mall was constructed in 1995-1997 behind the former Arthur Barnett building in George Street which was designed by
Edmund Anscombe Edmund Anscombe (8 February 1874 – 9 October 1948) was one of the most important figures to shape the architectural and urban fabric of New Zealand. He was important, not only because of the prolific nature of his practice and the quality of ...
(1874-1948) and completed in 1924. The new complex is a central retail hub, with JB Hi-Fi & Smiths City anchoring (there is space for another anchor and it was previously filled by H&J Smith). It opened on 5 September 1997 with the final development costs close to NZ$50 million. Arthur Barnett sold the mall to ING Real Estate Australia for $52.65 million in April 2003, using the proceeds to retire debt. In 2010 it was purchased by Lend Lease Group (LLC) for $185 million, along with three
Dress Smart Dress Smart is a franchise of Shopping mall, shopping centres in New Zealand that specialises in outlet stores. Auckland Dress Smart opened at Onehunga in 1995 with the concept of being New Zealand's first factory outlet shopping centre. Onehunga ...
outlets in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. In October 2011, Lend Lease sold the four shopping centres to its new Lend Lease Real Estate Partners New Zealand Fund for $NZ197 million. The mall contains 50 shops spread over three levels, including a large food court on the lower level. Above these three levels is a multi-storey car park, office space and a doctor's office. The neon advertising sign for Arthur Barnett that sat atop the mall was a prominent feature on the Dunedin skyline. Named ''Can't Stop'', it featured a small man trying to control a large horse, possibly a
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to: Sports * Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow * Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club * Clydesdale RFC, South ...
. It was designed by the New Zealand artist Heber Thompson for the 1924 building. The historic neon sign was turned off in May 2016 "for maintenance" and is still inoperative as of January 2019. In 2020, after anchoring the mall since its opening, K-mart closed due to "quake concerns"; they announced that they would be moving to the former Smiths City site for 4 years while they searched for a new location, but as of August 2022 they had still not moved to the old Smiths City site. When K-Mart left the Mall, Smiths City moved into the old K-mart location. In 2021, the mall was sold to Meridian Mall Ltd.


Golden Centre Mall and Wall Street Mall

Lying immediately south of the Meridian Mall is the independently operated Golden Centre, which was one of Dunedin's first shopping malls. Beyond the Golden Centre Mall lies the Wall Street Mall, which was opened on 21 March 2009. The Wall Street development was delayed by the discovery on the site of a corduroy causeway, one of Dunedin's earliest walkways. It dates from the 1850s, less than a decade after the city was founded. The walkway was preserved and reinterred under the Wall Street Mall in 2021. It is now visible through a transparent floor in the mall. The walkway has a Heritage New Zealand Category I status. Renovation and expansion of the Golden Centre during 2009 resulted in the three malls being linked internally in November 2009. The three malls thus form one continuous complex occupying almost the entire two-hectare central city block, having a total floor area of over .


Parking

The Golden Centre and Meridian Malls'
multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
s are linked, with entrance through the Meridian park and exit through the Golden Centre park. The Golden Centre's park is immediately behind the mall; the Meridian's park is on several floors on top of the mall.


References


External links


Official website

Wall St Mall Portal Website

Dunedin City Council Wall St Complex
{{Shopping centres in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Dunedin Shopping centres in New Zealand Shopping malls established in 1997 Tourist attractions in Dunedin 1990s architecture in New Zealand Central Dunedin