Stage Number: MBNH.11.03.32
Group: Northern
Local Study Area: Chermside-Wavell Heights-Kedron-Nundah
Epoch: Late 20th Century
Street Address: Gympie Road, Chermside
Latitude & Longitude: -27.38425,153.03225
Time Link: 1957
Map Link: 1958
Image Time Point: 1958
The Chermside Drive-In Shopping Centre opened on 31 May 1957. The site was marketed as the first suburban-style, post-war shopping precinct in the southern hemisphere. Alan and Stark Menswear was its original centrepiece until Myer took over the business in 1959. Initially the complex included a cash and carry supermarket, and 24 specialist shops. There was parking for 650 vehicles on a site of 11 hectares. Several re-developments followed a fire in the Woolworths store in 1972, and included the demolishment of the original building in 1977, replaced by a three-level building, an underground car park in 1987, a business mall in 1992, and a 900-seat food court and the Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinema in 2000. The shopping complex business changed hands in 1996 from Coles-Myer to Westfield.
Kowald, Margaret. with Val Donovan, Ruth Kerr, Kay Cohen, Lyndsay Smith, and Jean Stewart. Lost Brisbane and Surrounding Areas: The Later Years. Volume 2. RHSQ. 2016 page 113; Chermside & Districts Historical Society
Qimagery. Brisbane 1958. Scale: 1:24,000.
