Retail mecca: Take a look back at the Gold Coast's iconic shopping centres
THE Walk, a trendy and very contemporary centre, was opened in 1955 in Central Surfers Paradise on what is now the sit of Circle on Cavill.
Gold Coast
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IT was once the pinnacle of retail shopping on the Gold Coast.
Sundale Shopping Centre on the banks of the Nerang River was a massive leap forward for the Coast when it opened late in 1968 and included everything from a Big W, a Woolworths and a cinema to as a centrestage area for fashion parades.
But the site's role as a place of industry, in fact, dates back to Southport's earliest days, when Richard Gardiner opened a pub on it in 1878.
A little more than 90 years later the area received its name when Sundale, the state's first integrated indoor shopping centre, replaced the Southport Hotel.
Among its most interesting features was a radio booth for local station 4GG.
Sundale was a popular location throughout its heyday of the 1970s and early 1980s when it was host to many attractions including live performances by Graham Kennedy, Bryan Brown, Lucky Grills and the cast of The Sullivans.
Pacific Fair opened in the late 1970s and was soon followed by Scarborough Fair, later renamed Australia Fair. Both put pressure on the ageing Sundale centre. The final straw came after several tenants moved out in the late 1980s, eventually leading to its closure in 1990 just a year after it was put on the market for $50 million.
During the early 1990s the carpark of the empty shell was used as the site of a flea market while the complex's fate remained unclear.
Plans for a theme park called Motor World fell through before it was bought for $11.1 million by businessman David Chiu in 1995.
The site sold for $54 million in 2002 and the faded blue and yellow shopping centre was demolished in January 2003 to make way for high-rise accommodation.
The shopping centre is long gone but the name "Sundale'' has lived on as the unofficial name for the Gold Coast Bridge connecting Southport to Surfers Paradise.
Audacious move began with The Walk
The Walk, a trendy and very contemporary centre, was built by Albert Lacey and opened in 1955 in Central Surfers Paradise on what is now the site of Circle on Cavill.
It was developed to be a major attraction at the heart of the growing tourist area, a short walk from Jim Cavill's famous hotel.
The building, which featured serviced apartments and the open-air barbecue restaurant La Ronde, was famous for its multistorey mural depicting everything from Aboriginal art to Roman chariots.
It arrived during a 12 million pound development boom, which included the creation of the region's first high-rise, Kinkabool.
Surfers Paradise stalwart and former real estate kingpin Max Christmas said it was a well-regarded building in its heyday.
"It was the most modern building in the area and remained so for years after it was built,'' he said.
"Everyone went there.''
However, by the early 1980s, The Walk's colourful paint had faded and it closed to be replaced initially by an expansion of the Bavarian Steakhouse.
Several development plans were proposed during the 1990s before the Sunland group put up its $500 million Circle on Cavill development which was completed in 2007.
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