Kippax Fair is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes ...

in the western Canberra suburb of Holt,

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

, Australia. Named after cricketer

Alan Kippax Alan Falconer Kippax (25 May 1897 – 5 September 1972) was a cricketer for New South Wales (NSW) and Australia. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket during the era between the two World Wars, Kippax overcame a late sta ...

, it serves the West Belconnen region, and is anchored by a Woolworths Supermarket, an

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, whe ...

discount supermarket, and other stores, restaurants, cafeterias, bars, and community services.

History

In 1974, as the region of West Belconnen was slowly emerging, an approach was made by the

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...

to build a sizeable shopping centre on a large plot of land neighbouring the Parkwood industrial estate. Its original design was to encompass one indoor shopping complex and two outdoor

strip malls A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in fron ...

, now housing the majority of the centre's north-eastern wing. It opened in March 1976. In the late 1980s, with the area population growing steadily and competition arising from the newly opened Belconnen Mall (now Westfield Belconnen), development began on the area now housing Woolworths, as well as building another strip mall on Kippax Place, including a

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. It is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as New Zealand, and previously A ...

service station and the West Belconnen Leagues Club. This was furthered in 2005 when an expansion was made to house Aldi, and a completely separate building was developed next to the centre's playground to house the Kippax Public Library. The centre's facade was also modernised. In early 2019, a master plan was developed by the ACT Government, showing intent to expand the centre on the Kippax Playing Fields. This expansion would include another indoor shopping complex, housing another anchor tenant and a further range of stores. This plan was amidst controversy as it would force local sporting organisations to move their training facilities to other locations, such as the Higgins Oval, about to the centre's south.

Gallery

Kippax Fair2.JPG, The original façade stood until 2005 Kippax-newlibrary.jpg, The Kippax Public Library

References

{{Shopping centres in the Australian Capital Territory Shopping centres in the Australian Capital Territory Shopping malls established in 1976 1976 establishments in Australia