‘It was like going home’: Brisbane woman shares her fondest memories of the ‘Toombul magic’

From teenage romances sparked at the nearby bus interchange, to first jobs, a Brisbane woman has taken to social media to share her fondest memories of the much-loved Toombul Shopping Centre. READ THE POEM AND SHARE YOUR MEMORIES

A Brisbane woman has taken to social media to share her fondest memories of the flood-ravaged Toombul shopping Centre.

Up to 130 businesses were told on Wednesday that their leases had been terminated, three months after the February floods which closed the 54-year-old shopping centre.

But Kylie Holloway said “Lady T” would always be an icon.

Ms Holloway, who worked at the David Jones store in the centre in the early 80s, said the “Toombul magic” started when she was in high school.

“Toombul was built in 1967 when I was just two years old but I guess the recollection for me was as a teenager — you could speak to any St Rita’s girl in the 80s and they would say it was the place to be,” she said.

“They built the Toombul interchange there and it was where we connected – there was no social media and no mobile phones - we would meet all the Nudgee boys.

“It was where all the high school romances started.”

Ms Holloway said the shopping centre also serviced the horse racing “fraternity” of Clayfield and Hendra.

She said the “magic” of Toombul was highlighted when she became a mother and could share her childhood experiences.

“I would take my children there to get coffee and doughnuts - we watched it evolve – what I loved about Toombul is that everyone would say ‘Oh I’ll just duck into Toombul’.

“No matter when you went to Toombul you could always guarantee that you would run into somebody you knew – that was its magic – it was a very family, community place to go.

“I’m 57 in a couple of months and I still love to go there – I’ve had events in my life, events that have changed my life - I would go there to celebrate and to grieve.”

The recent floods were not the first to hit the iconic Brisbane shopping centre.

Ms Holloway said the infamous lower carpark would be empty even if there was a spit of rain but when she saw the damage from the floods she was “devastated.”

“I remember posting on Facebook at the time ‘the old lady couldn’t hold on’ so it didn’t come as a surprise when they made a decision not to renew those leases,” she said.

“But I think for thousands of people who have lived and grown up on the north side that will always be Toombul.

“I think the poem triggered memories for a lot of people - that will be the place that people will tell their grandchildren about because it was like going home”

‘LADY T’ by Kylie Holloway

The time as come to say farewell

To the lady by the Creek

Sandgate Road at Toombul

If you lived in Brisbane’s Northside it was the place to be

Built in 1967

Sure seems like yesterday

A huge Big T

A Rocket

A bread shop on the way

We were just tiny kids

when Dad would put us in the car

Mum would stop at Hades

and buy bread and buns and tarts

As Mum waited in the longest Q

We would climb up to the sky

in the steel coloured rocket

That was pretty bloody high

As a teenage girl I loved Toombul

With its trendy fashion stores

Sportsgirl, and David Jones

What girl could ask for more

I loved the Toombul interchange

So many memories there

Of St Rita’s girls and Nudgee Boys

that didn’t have a care

It’s where we met to laugh and cry

Where teenage romances would end and start

For some those lovely friendships

Were destined for marriage from the start

It’s where I went when i wagged school

It always felt like home

I loved the little florist shop

Where they let me use their phone

It’s where I worked after I left school

on Saturdays and Thursday night

For the very swishy David Jones

Dressed in my Black and White

Then I became a mother

and I would spend hours pushing the pram

Grocery shopping in good old Coles

and the deli for my ham

I’d meet Mum and Dad for coffee

and my friends and family too

and when I ducked out with no makeup on

I always ran into someone I knew

For that was just the lady

She held herself with grace

as her competitors launched themselves with an electrifying pace

To every age and every age

She holds memories great and small

I’d love to sit for hours

and hear the stories in her walls.

So many times the waters rose

but she held her head up high

But February 2022 put her to the test

Maybe it was just her time to have her well earned rest

Her workers broke in floods of tears

as they watched her wash away

And with her went their hopes and dreams

But they will rebuild again one day

Farewell, our special Lady T

you have given us a blast

Just like that big old rocket

you cannot change the past

Thank you for each moment

you have given each of us such pleasure

As we drive past 1015 Sandgate Road

Just know that you are treasured