Robina Town Centre: 25 years since Gold Coast shopping centre opened
The bubble jet court, the Disney Store and the giant tower: These are the fan favourite features people remember about the original Robina Town Centre which opened 25 years ago this month.
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ROBINA Town Centre is one of Queensland’s biggest shopping meccas.
It has more than 400 shops and covers more than 130,000sq m.
It is also the beating heart of what is regarded by many as the Coast’s second central business district behind Southport.
But it bears little resemblance to the original shopping centre that opened on April 28, 1996 — 25 years ago next week.
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The 1990s were a time of increasing retail competition — the near 20-year-old Pacific Fair was the undisputed champion, having helped see off Southport’s Sundale in 1990, while Australia Fair was relatively new.
Robina Town Centre was a major piece of the Robina development that was the brainchild of Robin Loh and Arthur Earle.
Construction began in 1994 and continued for two years.
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Its opening day was set down for Sunday, April 28, with an official ceremony two days earlier.
Around 200 people, including Mr Loh, attended the ceremony. Mayor Ray Stevens and Premier Rob Borbidge launched the project.
Mr Borbidge denied suggestions there were too many shopping centres on the Coast.
More than 100,000 people were expected to attend the opening of the $360m project, with 20,000 alone tipped to line up at the doors for its 8am opening.
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More than 40 police, led by future councillor Sen-Sgt Margaret Grummitt, were brought out to keep the crowds in line.
Opening day proved to be a sunny and warm day, with a spectacular ticker-tape event marking the celebration.
More than 300 volunteers and 200 schoolchildren, street performers and dancers unleashed a colourful pageant for the waiting shoppers.
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While there are 400 shops today, just 175 shops were there on opening day, including Coles, Kmart, Target and Woolworths.
The second stage, including David Jones, waterfront restaurants and a cinema came three months later.
While opening day was a big success, it was overshadowed by the horrors of the Port Arthur massacre that unfolded in Tasmania just hours after the first customers were allowed inside.
Robina itself was home to just 17,000 people at the time and was described as a “satellite town”.
Today there are nearly 24,000 residents.
Original features were its clock tower courtyard, bubble jet court and small food court that looked over the lake
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Another popular early feature was its famous yellow hot air balloon, giving people a bird’s-eye view of the developing Robina. For several years afterwards the balloon rising over the suburb was a common sight daily and could be seen from as far away as Merrimac.
During the late 1990s you could even hit golf balls into the lake.
But even in 1996 the Robina Group, which controlled the site, were thinking of expansion.
It was reported at the time there was scope for facilities including a casino, convention centre, “cultural and high technology” entertainment amenities and government services.
A decade after opening, an expansion finally came to fruition.
The clock tower was removed and the lake area heavily modified to create the promenade zone.
This upgrade was finally completed in 2009.
Now, 12 years later, Robina Town Centre remains one of the Coast’s busiest shopping centres.
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