Australia Fair Shopping Centre

History

1983

Australia Fair West, originally known as Scarborough Fair, was built and anchored by Franklins. It was constructed on the former the site of administrative and bottling buildings for the South Coast Co-Operative Dairy Association, which was designed by architects T.R. Hall and L. B. Phillips in 1936 on the corner of Scarborough and Young Streets. The dairy buildings were demolished in 1972. Australia Fair West contained Franklins, Treasureway and 40 specialty shops with off-road parking.

1984: Scarborough Fair was built incorporating a Coles Supermarket and Kmart Store.

1989

Scarborough Fair Shopping Centre doubled its size and extended through to Nerang Street Mall. Work on Australia Fair Shopping Centre was based around the old Scarborough Fair Retail Centre and retail anchors Kmart, Coles, Woolworths and Franklins.

1990: Australia Fair opened on 10 April 1990 a project which took more than a year and $300 million to complete. At completion, Australia Fair Shopping Centre had the largest concentration of specialty stores and was the only shopping centre in the Gold Coast let alone nation with three supermarket chains at the time: Woolworths, Coles and Franklins. 1991: The 52,000 square metre shopping development is the first of its kind in Australia and one of the largest in Queensland.

1993: An extension introduced the centre to a six-cinema complex and also created a Leisure Court Retail precinct.

1995

The Fashion Boulevard, Broadwater Food Court and Fresh Food Marketplace were refurbished and renamed to establish these precincts. The owner acquired the ex-State School site next to Australia Fair West for expansion purposes.

1997–1998: Extensions were completed, cinemas expanded from 6 to 10 and reconfiguration of the Cinema Leisure Court Retail/Entertainment precinct.

1998–1999

Colonial First State bought into the joint-venture ownership of Australia Fair with MEPC. The sale deal also included the former state school redevelopment site in Garden Street. 'Australia Fair set for $16m upgrade'...Owners announce their $16m refurbishment and upgrade. A major part of the refurb is the upgrade of the Fig Tree Food Court, remodeling of tennancies, additional weatherproof structure and replacement of an escalator.

2001: Gordon Fu purchases Australia Fair from Colonial First State.

2002–2004

$2.7 million spent on an upgrade to flooring, directional signage and Amenities/facilities upgrade which enhances the centre's appearance and image for Southport.

Parking & Public Transport

The centre has undercover and rooftop parking for 2500 cars, located off Marine Parade.

Southport G:link station is located on the corner of Nerang Street and Scarborough Street and provides Tram connections to the Gold Coast University Hospital and south towards Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. Southport Bus Station, one of the main bus stations in the city provides regular and high frequency services to Helensvale Station, Robina, SeaWorld/ Main Beach and Biggera Waters.