Australia Fair Shopping Centre: Southport retail complex’s multimillion-dollar revamp revealed
A popular but run-down Gold Coast shopping centre is about to get a major revamp, but readers are unconvinced it will be enough to bring shoppers back.
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A POPULAR but run-down Gold Coast shopping centre is about to get a major revamp, but readers are unconvinced it will be enough to bring shoppers back.
Australia Fair Shopping Centre will be given a multimillion facelift in an effort to increase trade and bring new life to the Southport CBD.
A new rooftop bar and dining precinct are at the heart of the fit-out.
Owner YFG Shopping Centres has filed plans with the Gold Coast City Council.
But Bulletin readers say it is not enough to turn the area’s fortunes around.
“Australia Fair is a good centre but does need a big revamp in sections; but its only as good as destination Southport; so how about free parking everywhere in Southport, as big turn off and a hassle to go there as per one of the main reasons it's a ghost town at the moment,” Daylight Saving Supporter wrote.
“Council is too greedy with paid parking and its now backfired as nobody uses the spaces now.”
Reader AnD called for the centre to be replaced entirely.
“They need to bulldoze it and start again. The light rail is the best thing about that area (so long as you don’t get off). Start by doing something to help the homeless find some accommodation and get them off the streets and safe,” they said.
“Rename it Scarborough Fair like it was when I was tiny. Sundale was good an was bulldozed. Aus Fair’s time is well and truly over.”
The rooftop bar will be built on the Nerang St side of the centre and will overlook the former Southport Mall area.
It will also allow for long-empty tenancies on the centre’s second level to be reopened, with artist impressions revealing a gym could fill the space occupied by the Mitre 10 hardware shop in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The front of the Hotel Pacific facade on Marine Parade will also be revamped to create a new entrance and balcony dining area.
Both sections of the complex were built in the late 1980s and opened in April 1990.
“The proposal will enhance the amenity of the shopping centre to the streetscape while creating a high quality user experience through internal upgrades and refurbishments,” a planning report filed with council said.
“The proposed refurbishment works involve the upgrading of the existing external facade at the Nerang Street and Marine Parade entrances.”
News of the revamp comes a week after Gold Coast residents questioned the state of the complex, with more than 15 empty shops and images of water damage and holes in its roof.
Australia Fair, originally known as Scarborough Fair Shopping World, was unveiled in 1981 by developer Pat Zarro’s Witan Group and his partners Australia Fixed Trusts.
It opened in March 1983.
In 1988 a massive $300 million expansion of the centre was announced along with a rebranding to create the modern Australia Fair complex, which opened in 1990.
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Originally published as Australia Fair Shopping Centre: Southport retail complex’s multimillion-dollar revamp revealed
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