MacArthur Central, also known as MacArthur Central Shopping Centre, in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, is a four level shopping centre that incorporates an

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th cent ...

styled heritage-listed building known as

MacArthur Chambers MacArthur Chambers is a heritage-listed former office building at 229 Queen Street (corner of Edward Street), Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Richard Hall and built from 1931 to 1934 by Ge ...

. MacArthur Central is on the north-east corners of Queen Street, Edward Street and Elizabeth Street. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

used the building as the Allied forces'

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

Headquarters from July 1942 to November 1944.

Features

A feature of the MacArthur Chambers building (and once of all buildings that were owned by the AMP Society) is a three-figure statue above the portico entrance of the Queen Street façade of the building, sculptured in Sicilian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

Fred Gowan Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...

, representing: "''Strength, Plenty, Production and Growth''". Below the statue is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

of the AMP Society - : "AMICUS CERTUS IN RE INCERTA" -- or in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: : "A SURE FRIEND IN UNCERTAIN TIMES"

History

The MacArthur Chambers building was constructed between 1930 and 1934 and with the exception of the war years was the Queensland headquarters of the

AMP Society AMP is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in ...

, a mutual insurance corporation, until 1977 when that organisation moved to new premises in Creek Street. The AMP Society has subsequently demutualised, becoming a company known as AMP Limited. The AMP Society's board room was on the eighth floor, which became the location of General Douglas MacArthur's office. By military order tenants from the second to ninth floors were compulsorily evacuated for the Hiring Department of the Defence Forces. The current 10 storey MacArthur Chambers building replaced a smaller 3 storey building also owned by the AMP Society, which had been constructed in the 1890s. It also featured the "trademark" AMP Society three figure statue. After the AMP Society vacated the building, which then became known as MacArthur Chambers, it continued to be leased for office accommodation, a boutique hotel, and small shops on the ground and basement floors.

Redevelopment

The MacArthur Chambers building and sites adjacent to the building, comprising an entire city block, were subsequently redeveloped in the late 1990s. Today the redeveloped shopping mall is called the MacArthur Central Shopping Centre, and is part of an apartment and commercial shopping complex that includes MacArthur Chambers, Woolworths Supermarket,

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 ...

discount department store, approximately 40 specialty stores and a food court. In 2006, the MacArthur Central Shopping Centre was part of one of the largest property swap transactions in Australian history, valued at $186 million. A private investment company called Precision Group acquired the property from the Investa Property Group for $119.5 million by swapping an office building located in Brisbane at 160 Ann Street, valued at $66.5 million, and making a cash payment. During 2009-10 a $20 million upgrade to the MacArthur Central retail complex was planned and carried out, and the first full-line supermarket (Woolworths) in Brisbane’s CBD was opened in the centre.

MacArthur Museum

The MacArthur Museum (to commemorate General MacArthur's association with Brisbane), was opened by members of the General Douglas MacArthur Brisbane Memorial Trust in 2004. Visitors are able to visit General Douglas MacArthur's office. Also on display is movie footage of the Second World War and all the front pages of "''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northe ...

''" from September, 1939 to August, 1945. The entrance to both the Museum and the MacArthur Chambers Hotel are on Edward Street.

Heritage listing

MacArthur Chambers are listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...

Gallery

File:New-Storefront.jpg, MacArthur Central Woolworths Store File:MacArthur Central Food Court Side View.jpg, MacArthur Central Food Court & JB Hi-Fi MacArthur Central Food Court.jpg, MacArthur Central Food Court MacArthur Chambers Street View.jpg, MacArthur Chambers

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...

– Queen Street View

References

External links

MacArthur Central Shopping Centre website

MacArthur Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur Central Shopping Centre, Brisbane History of Brisbane Apartment buildings in Brisbane Brisbane central business district Shopping centres in Brisbane