Webb Street, Narre Warren - 1990s

These are photographs of Webb Street Narre Warren, taken in the 1990s, by the City of Berwick (when Councils focused on the traditional 3 Rs - Roads, Rates and Rubbish) Back in the days before large shopping centres such as Fountain Gate, which opened in March 1980, and Centro at Cranbourne, which opened in 1979, were built, people used to do all their shopping at strip shopping centres such as Webb Street or High Street in Cranbourne or Main Street in Pakenham. If you wanted something special you went to Dandenong to the shops or the market or even 'into town' i.e. Melbourne.

This is Webb Street in 1992. You can see the Signal box from the Narre Warren Railway Station in the back ground. The Signal box is now at Myuna Farm. The Railway Station moved from original location (west of Webb Street) to current location (east of Webb Street) in 1995. 

Almost the same view as above, but a better view of the Signal box, early 1990s.

Webb Street, early 1990s. If the sign is accurate then this must have been taken before November 1992 as this was when the Narre Warren Library moved from Malcolm Court to next to the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre. 

This is Bailey's supermarket, taken in 1992

This is a bit earlier than the other photos but shows, on the right, Bailey's supermarket, being constructed. The main building is the old cool store, which is being demolished. Some car fans have dated some of the cars in this photo -  a 1977 Torana Sunbird, a post 1978 Datsun 200B and possibly a 1977 Corolla and the green car in the centre is a HG Monaro - now apparently worth $100,000! Anyway, these identifications date this photo to at least the late 1970s. 

Tweet

Isador Magid and Narre Warren

The City of Berwick Civic Centre was opened in December 1978 on land donated by the developer, Isodor Magid, whose Overland Construction Corporation built the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, which opened in March 1980  (you can see where Magid Drive and Overland Drive at Fountain Gate got their name.) Mr Magid also developed the innovative Fountain Gate Housing Estate off Tinks Road, in the mid 1960s.  The Civic Centre became the City of Casey Civic Centre and has now become redundant due to the construction of Bunjil Place, which opened in October 2017.

In my mind, there are two people who had a profound influence on the development and direction of the town of Narre Warren - Sidney Webb in the nineteenth century and Isador Magid in the twentieth century. I have written about Sidney Webb before - around 1888, he built the first shops in Narre Warren, he agitated for the Narre Warren Railway Station to be built, which opened 1882 and he donated land for the school and the Mechanics' Institute.  Fast forward 90 or so years and another force  hit Narre Warren when Mr Magid opened the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, which had a major effect on how we shopped - traditional local shopping strips began to decline as people flocked to Fountain Gate (and still do).  The Shopping Centre also encouraged other development - such as new housing estates, new businesses  and new transport links.  Even though Sidney Webb's Webb Street shopping has declined in importance as a shopping strip in the face of Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, I fully believe that Sidney Webb would approve of  Isador Magid's shopping centre as both men obviously had the same  entrepreneurial flair and vision. 

Before Fountain Gate, Isador Magid developed, amongst other things, the  Princes Domain housing estate in Hallam in the early 1960s and the Mountain Gate Shopping Centre at Ferntree Gully in 1961 (perhaps inspiring the name for Fountain Gate). He donated land for the Alexander Magit Memorial Infant Welfare and Preschool Centre in Harwell Street in Ferntree Gully, which was established in 1967 and has just celebrated it's 50th anniversary. The Centre was named in honour of his father, Alexander Magit (the family surname was later changed to Magid). You can read about the Centre's 50th anniversary on the City of Knox's website here. Another development was the  Brandon Park Shopping Centre at Wheelers Hills which opened in 1970. 

Isador Magid received the Key to the City of Berwick at a ceremony held May 20, 1993. This was the highest award the City could bestow, according to the Mayor, Cr Trevor Smith.

Berwick Journal  May 31, 1993

Apart from his property company Mr Magid was involved in many philanthropic activities however there is an interesting 'twist' to his story and that is, he was responsible along with his business partners George Shannon and Henry Korbritz, for introducing Twisties (that gastronomic delight!) into Australia. According to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia that is an interesting (but sometimes not always accurate) source of information for popular culture -  In the early 1950s Melbourne businessman Isador Magid imported a rotary head extruder from the United States which initially did not work. After bringing out a technical expert from the USA as well as receiving valuable advice from the CSIRO, Magid started producing Twisties. The product was popular but large scale distribution was difficult so Magid decided to sell the machine and the brand in 1955 to Monty Lea from Darrell Lea for £12,000. Monty and his brother Harris experimented with the machine further using rice and various flavourings. Twisties became popular in Australia - some of its early success is attributed to promotional activity that included advertising the product on Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton's TV show In Melbourne Tonight, making it one of the earliest products advertised on that program. After an unsuccessful attempt to launch Twisties in the UK and competition for shelf space in Australia the Lea brothers agreed to sell the Twisties brand to the Smith's Snackfood Company.

Isador and his wife Ira, had arrived in Australia from Shanghai in 1948. They had four children  of which two pre-deceased them. In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours list Isador received an A.M. 'for service to the Community, particularly the Jewish community'.  He died in November 2004 at the age of 91. 

Tweet

Start of the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre

These fourteen photos are labelled 'the start of the Fountain Gate  Shopping Centre' They were taken by a now unknown City of Berwick staff member and show, as the name suggests, the start of the construction of the Shopping Centre.  The Fountain Gate Shopping Centre was opened on March 11, 1980 by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Winneke, so these photos were most likely taken early 1979.

This is the view looking back towards the Civic Centre, which was officially opened on December 8, 1978, also by Sir Henry Winneke. Sir Henry was the Governor of Victoria from June 1974 until March 1982.

Another view looking towards the Civic Centre

Another view to the Civic Centre - there is the double storey section and what looks a bit like a colonnade on the right is section that faces the carpark on the Library side, you can see it better in the photo, below.

Similar views as above.

This is taken from the verandah on the east side of the Civic Centre, looking north.

I believe this is a view to the houses in the Fountain Gate Housing Estate on the west side of the Centre, possibly Raven Court or Fountain Drive and Summerlea Road, looking over what would be the Max Pawsey Reserve.

I believe this is looking north towards the transmission line that runs parallel to Brundrett Road in Narre Warren North

A nice row of pine (or are they cypress?)  trees - is it the same one as in the shot above? In the aerial below from January 9 1978 there are a few hedges of pines or cypress, not sure which one this is.

This is aerial of the Civic Centre (centre of photo)  and the Fountain Gate Housing Estate (top left of photo)  was taken January 9, 1978. I've included it here to see if it will help me get some orientation on the photos, hasn't really helped but it might help you. It does however show the landscape before the shopping centre was constructed. The building on the right of the Civic Centre is the Brechin Homestead, built in 1937 and demolished around 1990. You can read about it here.

I feel that this is looking north towards Narre Warren North

I think this is looking west to the Fountain Gate Housing Estate and Tinks Road

This is what became Magid Drive looking towards the Princes Highway

Looking west and the one below is looking south west. The trucks are an International Loadstar and an International Acco - both would have been made at the International Harvester Factory at Dandenong.

Tweet

Local shopping strips

These are  photographs of local strip shopping centres, taken mainly in 1990s, by the City of Berwick. This is how we all used to shop before the arrival of the large shopping centres - if you grew up in Victoria, then you would know that Chadstone was the first of these big centres, it opened in 1960 and it is apparently so big now that I wouldn't be surprised if you can see it from the moon.  Locally,  the Centro Shopping Centre in Cranbourne  and the Endeavour Hills Shopping Centre both opened in 1979 and Fountain Gate Shopping Centre in 1980.

This is Autumn Place in Doveton, 1992.

 This is Spring Square in Hallam in 1992.To see another photograph of Spring Square, click here.

Webb Street in Narre Warren, taken 1992.

Webb Street in Narre Warren. I am not sure of the exact date of this picture, but it is around the early 1990s. You can see the old Railway signal box in the background.

High Street in Berwick, 1992. To see more photographs of High Street click here.

This is an earlier shot of High Street, taken in 1975.

If you want to see  photographs of the local shopping strip at Pakenham, then click here,  or in Cranbourne, then click here

Tweet

Main Street Pakenham

Here are some views of Main Street in Pakenham. I don't have  a date for the first three photographs, but I would guess they were taken around 1900.

This is Main Street, looking towards McGregor Road. 

 State Library of Victoria Image H82.96/138

Main Street Pakenham, looking towards the Railway Station. The same view is below. The verandah on the right is the same verandah on the building on the right, below. This store was originally owned by Mr Crump, later taken over by McAfees, then sold to Robinsons.

You can see Robinson's SSW supermarket, in this 1980s photograph. It was later taken over by Safeways and is now the IGA. Safeways moved to its new building behind Main Street around 1984. This was the beginning, in my mind, of Pakenham's transition from being a country town to a suburb, when people no longer did all their shopping at small, independently owned businesses  in the Main Street.

Tweet

Hallam Regional Shopping Centre 1974

I came across a report for a 'Proposed Regional Shopping Centre' at Hallam. The report was dated June 1974 and was prepared by Hanover Holdings. The project was to 'provide outstanding regional shopping facilities in the location most appropriate for the people of Berwick, Hallam, Dandenong, Pakenham and surrounding districts and South Gippsland'. Commencement date was to be early 1975, however it was never built and 'regional shopping facilities' ended up being provided by the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, which opened on March 11, 1980. It is interesting to think how much different both Narre Warren and Hallam would be if Fountain Gate Shopping Centre was not built and the Hallam Shopping Centre was.

.

Concept plan by Architects Norris & Partners P/L

This map shows the proposed location - on the south side of the Princes Highway and the east side of Wedgewood Road. The Highway gave easy access to  Dandenong and Gippsland. It also had access to the Mulgrave Freeway (or Monash as it is now called), however we are still waiting for the completion of the Dingley by-pass and what they call the La Trobe Valley by-pass road (and we now call  the Hallam by-pass)  was only opened in 2003, nearly thirty years after the proposed shopping centre.

Some concept drawings - the tower over the main entrance  was a 'four sided symbol in the form of an "H" representing Hanover'. As the report goes on to say, 'it is apparent that this symbol would be  a dominant feature of the landscape and would become a landmark'. The Developers were prepared to replace the "H" symbol with 'a monument or another appropriate structure, such as a monument to the pioneers of the Gippsland district.' 

Other features of the Complex included a Community Hall, an Auditorium, a Creche and  a swimming pool with a  cabana.

Tweet

High Street Cranbourne in the 1960s.

Cranbourne has grown in the past fifty years from a country town to an outer suburb of Melbourne. In this blog post we will look at some photographs of High Street in the 1960s, when Cranbourne was still a county town. If you have any information about any of the buildings featured in the photographs, then I would love to know.

This is an aerial shot of Cranbourne taken February 3, 1964. (Click on the photograph to enlarge it). On the bottom right is the Cranbourne Racecourse, above the sandpits. The South Gippsland Highway travels past the Racecourse, and up through town, the last major cross-road is Clarendon Street. To the right of the Highway, bordering Clarendon Street, are the three empty blocks where Cranbourne High School was built in 1976. As you can see there is very little development in High Street, the Shopping Centre opened in 1978. On the left of the highway is the subdivision bordered by Clarendon Street and Fairbairn Road and includes Campbell Street, Cranbourne Drive, Cochrane Street and Taylor Street, Lurline Street and Lorna Street.

This is a hairdressing salon, with a big advertisement for Turf cigarettes. Take off the tension with Turf filter tips, it says. These type of prominent cigarette advertisements are as much a thing of the past as vacant blocks of land in High Street are.

In the foreground is a 1960 FB Holden, I am reliably informed. Across the street is a BP garage.

This is taken just a bit further up the street than the previous photograph. The car is thought to be a 1961 EK Holden.

Finally, Kelly's Motor Club Hotel. This building is still a land mark in High Street. A hotel has been on this site since the Mornington Hotel was established in 1860s. The Kelly family operated the Cranbourne Hotel, which was located where the Shopping Centre now is, from around 1917 and at one stage operated both the Cranbourne and the Mornington Hotels. This building was erected about 1926.

Tweet

Pakenham in the 1980s and early 1990s.

We have many treasures in our Archive including these interesting photographs of Pakenham, taken in the 1980s to early 1990s. They are interesting because they show Pakenham when it was changing from a country town to the outer suburb of Melbourne which it is today. Our family has a connection with Pakenham over the past fifty years - we all went to Pakenham Consolidated School in the 1960s and early 1970s, we went to the Presbyterian, later Uniting, Church and did our shopping at Pakenham so I do remember Pakenham when it was a country town and have seen the development over the past twenty five years. If, like me, you knew Pakenham as a country town then these photographs will bring back memories and if you have a more recent connection to Pakenham, then these photographs will show you a part of Pakenham's 'modern' history.

Main Street in Pakenham, taken November 1985, looking south to Henty Street, the Safeways complex and the railway line. Click on the photograph to enlarge it. The roundabout is the intersection of Main Street and John Street. On the right is the old Methodist Church. This was built in 1914, though the Pakenham Methodist Home Mission Station had previously catered to the Methodist of the district from 1885. The Church was demolished around 1986-1987. Next to the Church, on the right, are the Erica Place units, apparently the first set of units built in Pakenham. They were constructed around 1982. Heading east down Main Street on the left side of John Street was N.N. Webster Real Estate Agents, pictured immediately below, taken around the same time as the aerial photograph. Continuing down Main Street we come to the Old Pakenham Post Office, with its distictive terra cotta roof, which is also pictured below.

Noel Webster's grandfather had arrived in Pakenham in 1892, and had a butchers shop in the Main Street. Noel purchased the Real Estate business from H. Hogan in 1947. According to this advertisement from the Back to Pakenham Souvenir booklet of March 1951, H. Hogan commenced his business in 1900.

The Pakenham Post Office was built in 1924 in 'Georgian revival' style. This Post Office actually began as the Pakenham East Post Office, as the original town of Pakenham was centred on the Princes Highway and Toomuc Creek and the town that developed around the Railway Station from 1877 was known as Pakenham East. It was still referred to as Pakenham East well into the 1960s. The Railway Station also contained the first Pakenham East Post Office. This Post Office building was demolished in the late 1990s.

As we wander further east down the Main Street we come to Robinsons SSW supermarket, later taken over by Safeways. This wasn't Robinson's first store, they were originally closer to John Street, and the business was also an advertiser in the Back to Pakenham Souvenir booklet of March 1951.

This aerial was also taken November 1985, looking north up Main Street. Click on photograph to enlarge it. If we turn left at the roundabout at John Street you can see the old premises of the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society (pictured below). On the northern right hand side of this intersection is the original Shire Offices, which were extended and partly concealed in a new structure in 1962. The Railway line is on left as is Safeways and the vacant land is the site of what is now Coles and Target.

The headquarters of the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society. Sadly, no amount of creative photography could make this building look attractive. The Historical Society commenced in 1962 as the Historical Society of the Berwick Shire. They moved from this building to space at the Pakenham Library (built 1991) and are now in the re-furbished and re-located Old Shire Offices on the corner of Main Street and the Princes Highway. The original Shire Offices were built in 1912 on the corner of Main Street and John Street and remained virtually intact in spite of their modernisation in 1962. The building was moved it's current location in 2004.

A general overview of the Pakenham Shopping centre area, taken around 1985. If you click on this photograph to enlarge it you will get a good view of the old Shire Offices, referred to above. In the foreground is Henty Street.

In the left foreground of this November 1985 aerial are the current Shire Offices. Behind it is the Pakenham Secondary College. Secondary education, up to Form 4 or Year 10, had been provided in Pakenham until 1966 at the Pakenham Consolidated School. When Pakenham High School was established in 1967 it continued to use the Consolidated School for accommodation, until its own premises were opened in February 1970.

The official opening of the Shire of Pakenham Municipal Offices and Council Chambers by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Brian Murray with the Shire President, Cr Austin Bastow on July 28th, 1983.

Tweet