Broadway is a road in

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales, 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 Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

and Regent streets, and runs west to the junction of

Parramatta Road Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD with Parramatta. It is the easternmost part of the Great Western Highway. S ...

and

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

at Victoria Park. Broadway and Parramatta Road are part of the

Great Western Highway Great Western Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, on the state's Central Tablelands. The highway also has local road names between the ...

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 Railway Square is a plaza at the southern end of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, formed by the confluence of Broadway, Sydney, Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street, Sydney, George Street. The squa ...

, 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 Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

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; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

campus) is the oldest consecrated Catholic Church in Australia. It was the parish church of

Norman Gilroy Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy (22 January 1896 – 21 October 1977) was an Australian bishop. He was the first Australian-born cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Early life and priestly ministry Gilroy was born in Sydney to working-class pare ...

, 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 Bros 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 wer ...

. 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 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

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, H&M, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey No ...

on the western side and the 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 between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, which includes a new public park located just off Broadway of approximately in size, and a new tower called

One Central Park One Central Park is a mixed-use development, mixed-use dual skyscraper located in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale, New South Wales, Chippendale in New South Wales, Australia. Developed as a joint venture between Frasers Property and Sekisui Hou ...

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

and featuring "vertical gardens" by

Patrick Blanc Patrick Blanc (born June 3, 1953, Paris) is a French botanist who works at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he specializes in plants from tropical forests. He is the modern innovator of the green wall, specifically, ...

. Located opposite the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

, 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 (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

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 (IGS),

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back t ...

(UTS),

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

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 UTS Building 1, also known as the UTS Tower, is a landmark building on Broadway at the southern gateway to Sydney's central business district. Many of the administrative units of the University of Technology, Sydney are located across the buildin ...

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 minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

style, it has been described as one of Sydney's ugliest buildings. An adjacent building on Broadway designed by

Denton Corker Marshall Denton Corker Marshall is an international architecture practice based in Melbourne, Australia. History Denton Corker Marshall was established in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barri ...

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 The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia. It was established in 1817 in Sydney. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania ...

. 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 as viewed at night File:112 N7A8606 UTS Central Andy Roberts hr.jpg,

building, University of Technology Sydney File:Sydney Central Park.jpg,

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 as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

'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 (known simply as Notre Dame; ; French language, French for 'Mary, mother of Jesus, Our Lady') is a Private university, private Catholic university with campuses in Perth, Sydney and Broome, Western Austr ...

References

External links

* C-By-SA {{Streets of Sydney Australia Sydney localities Streets in Sydney