Wintergarden is a shopping centre in

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, Australia. It contains over 60 specialty stores over three levels. The centre was developed by the Kern Corporation and constructed by subsidiary, Kern Construction. It was intended to create a retail focus to the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

History

The location previously operated as the 2000 seat Wintergarden Theatre cinema complex from 1924 until it closed in 1973 and was demolished in 1981. The original building was designed by Ballantyne & Hare of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Hall & Prentice in Brisbane provided local design assistance. The theatre featured a Wurlitzer pipe organ which could be raised and lowered from the orchestra pit. In 1929 the rival Regent Theatre opened also in Queen Street. With the transfer of ownership of the theatre to the Kern Corporation in the 1970s, and plans for the construction of the

Queensland Performing Arts Centre The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (also known as QPAC) is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct. Opened in 1985, it includes the Lyric Thea ...

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, the

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

building next door to the Wintergarden was also marked for demolition and inclusion in the proposed new Wintergarden shopping centre.

Shopping precinct development

The development beginning in the 1980s covered two stages, the first provided for three levels of retail and a two-storey carpark above. It boasted several national retailers previously unknown to Brisbane shoppers and the first CBD food courts covering a variety of cuisines. It was opened by the

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

, in 1982. In 1987 the second stage was developed adjacent to Stage 1 and comprised additional specialty shops, a multi-cuisine sit-down restaurant (again, a first for the city and originally operated for 24-hours), and the Hilton hotel which was intended to provide 5-star accommodation for

World Expo 88 World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo w ...

. Hilton International Brisbane opened in October 1986. In November 2009, it was announced that a $100 million refurbishment of Wintergarden would take place in two 12-month stages.Wintergarden to get $100m facelift
''Sydney Morning Herald'' 19 November 2009 The Wintergarden's facade was enhanced on all three street frontages. As part of the exterior works, the old skybridge linking the Wintergarden to the David Jones

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

was removed. In addition, screens were placed above each entrance, which feature programmed LED lighting. Redevelopment principal architect was The Buchan Group, and redevelopment façade architects were Studio 505. Redevelopment was completed in 2012.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 27, 28, 09, S, 153, 01, 36.4, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Brisbane central business district Commercial buildings completed in 1982 Shopping centres in Brisbane Shopping malls established in 1982 Queen Street, Brisbane 1982 establishments in Australia