Roselands Shopping Centre

Roselands Shopping Centre (previously called Centro Roselands) is a medium-sized shopping centre in Roselands, a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1965, Roselands was the largest shopping centre in the Southern hemisphere for years, even though it is quite small by today's standards.

History
Construction of Roselands Shopping Centre began on 9 June 1964, on the site of the former Roselands Golf Course (which gave its name to the new centre, and later the surrounding suburb). Cost of construction at the time was A$15 million.

Roselands was officially opened on 12 October 1965, and at the time it was the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. The centrepiece of the new centre was a large Grace Bros. department store. It also contained Australia's first "food court", known as "Four Corners" themed to represent food from the four corners of the world, a rain-themed water feature (the Raindrop Fountain) and a cinema (the Roselands Theatre Beautiful).

A major incident occurred at 4.30pm on 13 June 1969. A large fire broke out in the Grace Bros. store which caused possibly millions of dollars worth of damage before it was extinguished. The fire started on the top floor, which was a 'temporary' type of structure to allow for further floors to be added later. There was a lot of timber in walls on the top floor, and most of it was storage and reserve areas, so rarely used by staff. An electrical fault in a pillar on the 2nd floor in the soft furnishings department was apparently the start of the fire. It was quickly extinguished, but unknown to staff it had spread up the conduit to the floor above, where the huge bedding department storeroom was located. By the time people realised the fire had spread upstairs, water in the sprinkler system had boiled and the fire was out of control. Most of the damage was caused by water seeping down through the concrete floors below. The fire was contained to the top floor, which was completely destroyed. The following morning the lower ground floor of Grace Bros was over ankle deep in dirty water, and as this was the electrical and major furnishings floor, everything was a total write off. The clothing floors were also severely damaged by water, The ceiling tiles all became saturated and collapsed onto the racks below, wetting and staining much of the clothing.

In 1977, Roselands made an application for re-zoning and expansion. There was considerable objection to the plans, although they were eventually approved in December 1978, and the extension was completed in 1981. Further major developments took place in 1991 and 1992.

A redevelopment with a focus on food produce, supermarkets, dining and entertainment opened in 2019. The lower ground floor features five new specialty areas, including a Market Hall, Market Place, Atrium, Laneway and Pantry - each offering a diverse range of fresh produce.

References

Category:Shopping centres in Sydney
Category:Shopping malls established in 1965
Category:1965 establishments in Australia