The Fenwick Estate, 1800 (Lakemba, now Roselands)
When it was built in 1964 Roselands was probably the first, and was certainly the largest, shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. What has since come to be termed a 'mall' was a new phenomenon back then, an attempt to create a 'city in the suburbs', enabling south west Sydney residents, by a short drive or bus ride, to reach a retail precinct that offered more delights than they could have previously imagined. The original Roselands contained hundreds of variety shops and was dominated by a Grace Brothers department store. It had the country's first food court (Papa Guiseppe had his genesis there), a ladies rest room - the Rendezous Room - where one could relax and shower and even iron a frock before seeing a film at the Roselands Cinema Beautiful or dining & dancing at The Viking licensed restaurant. And of course, Roselands had the famed Raindrop Fountain (below left) a series of nylon wires down which a mixture of water and glycerin trickled into a faux rock pool at its base!
When the Premier of NSW, Robin Askin, opened Roselands in late 1965 (a view of opening day appears below), he declared that Roselands was a ‘million dollar spread of merchandise… bring(ing) the city to the suburbs in a glittering way that must rival even the fabled Persian Bazaars’. He also referred to it as the essence of 'the motor age' - a quaint description to use just 4 years before we landed on the moon! But however you looked at it, Roselands was the stuff of dreams! A quaint blending of nostalgic and futuristic vision*. It had contemporary art, CCTV coverage of the childminding centre, illuminated signage (mermaids & pirate ships that lit up on the seafood outlet), held massive trade promotions and civic functions and offered live entertainment as well as having its unique boutique cinema.People flocked to its opening - cars were bumper to bumper along the approach roads. Their interest was maintained and many developed an abiding loyalty and affection for the centre.
There were dozens of variations on it's signature tune the 'Roselands we love you/need you' jingle. The one I particularly recall from 1970s 2SM is - 'Roselands we love you - we think you're Christmas'. At about the same time Edna Everage (yet to be made a dame) went one step further and said she imagined heaven as 'one big Roselands'. Even if heaven was/is more delightful than Roselands in its heyday, Roselands could not have been much more heavenly! Apart from all the attractions I've mentioned, I remember the amazing animal sculptures for kiddies to climb on up in the Leopard Spot play area on the roof. My archive trawling reveals that the ground level boasted a wishing well/water wheel as well as the so 60s chunky copper the Rose Fountain (pictured below). 
Roseland's funky Rose Fountain - the height of hip in south west Sydney in the era of Graham Kennedy, Charmian Clift and Bandstand.Roselands had the most extensive and convenient parking lot a shopping centre had ever had (no customer need walk further than 100 metres from their vehicle to retail bliss) - it pioneered the colour coding of levels. And although praised for its compact 3 tier car park, Roselands had more than enough land around it for the additional parking lots that have appeared since the 1980s.
Roselands was built over (and named after) a 9 hole golf course (that was a sub-divided 18 whole golf course) owned by local mayor and business man Stanley Parry. Before that the area was known as Fenwick's Paddock recalling the Fenwick Estate (see top picture) established in the 1880s by a tug business operator. It's homestead Belmore House became the golf clubhouse and stood on the site until the 1940s. Before all that the region was the traditional land of the Daruk (or Darug) people.
Roselands was first refurbished only 5 years into its life when it was damaged by a spectacular fire allegedly caused by fireworks Grace Brothers had in stock for the Queen's Birthday weekend. It has since been remodelled and 'made over' out of recognition with each passing decade. Most of the innovative features, including the fountains and the cinema, that made it remarkable when new have now vanished. I think the remnants of the Viking Restaurant remained until the 1990s as I vaguely recall eating schnitzel there when my kids were little.
Ironically Roselands has gone from being the biggest mall in the country to being one of the most human in scale. The extensive spread of land around it (which contains several houses, a bowling club, a memorial rose garden and an aquatic centre) contrasts pleasantly with complexes like Miranda Fair and Chatswood which loom too large, dominate their locations and where queues of cars can build up at the entry points. Entry to Roselands is via one of three leisurely stretches of road and I have never known it to run out of parking spaces (even at Christmas time).
Back in the 60s, as a newly arrived pommy immigrant, Roselands enticed me with its scale and modernity. Now it has won me over anew with its proximity, manageable size, variety of goods and services (I went to Weight Watchers there and now I go to aquarobics at the Roselands pool) and its rambling setting that, with a little imagination, can still evoke Fenwicks Paddock (below) .
* chronicled in Michaela Perske's meticulous 1998 broadcast on the ABC radio program Hindsight, an MP2 of which the staff at the ABC very generously created and provided to me.
POSTSCRIPT:
Right is a lovely sharp focus picture (particularly for a mobile phone image) my daughter took of the ugly rusted sculptural evocation of a rose (?) that dominates the memorial garden in the grounds of Roselands adjacent to the pool and opposite the auto service centre. Circa 1960s I'd say.
It is in the centre of what must have been a pool of reflection but which is now an empty litter collector. Does anyone know anything about its history/origin? Will do a little more research.
9 comments:
Hi Alice - How wonderful are your musings and recollections of Roselands in its Heyday...I grew up near Roselands - and spent much of my childhood there - it was truly a wonderland and a home away from home - in so many ways. I can remember every part of it in vivid detail - it was really beautiful. Thank You.
Martin Wood, Darling Point.
Hi Alice - How wonderful are your musings and recollections of Roselands in its Heyday...I grew up near Roselands - and spent much of my childhood there - it was truly a wonderland and a home away from home - in so many ways. I can remember every part of it in vivid detail - it was really beautiful. Thank You.
Martin Wood, Darling Point.
Thank you, Martin, I am about to add a new photo.
Dear Alice, I also remember
(1) the carnival rooftop on the 3rd floor - outside the toyshop. There was a narrow gauge model train ride for children
(2) Grace Bros occupied the lower ground floor - electricals, hardware, a restaurant, bottle shop, deli and its own supermarket.
At the third level, Grace Bros occupied the area now occuppied by a travel agency, medical centre, Blooms Chemist and Target. I remember getting my school uniform in 1973 for St Pats Strathfield, and being served by Mr Wally Bostock.
(4) I recall the open space with the raindrop fountain where one could watch shows during the school holidays and get a special view from the cafeteria from the mezzanine floor. Now it's occupied by shops after the renovations in the 1990s.
(5) On staircases - (a) the staircase with dark brown wooden beams from the lower-ground floor to the 3rd level now occupied by two hydraulic elevators - I am sure I saw a movie on TV which featured the staircase and an action chasing scene, and (b) the spiral stair case from the 4th floor - furniture to the lower ground floor which was next to the elevators in the Grace Bros store.
(6) I also recall miniature ferris wheels either near the ground floor entrance to Grace Bros and outside near the Roselands Theatre Beautiful.
(7) I recall in the Roselands Theatre Beautiful watching Walt Disney movies during the school holidays. It was a single level cinema, with recessed flourescent lights. Was it economic factors that saw its demise in the mid 1980s?
(8) The "Four Corners" restaurant located where the Reject Shop is occupied, and the Coles variety store where Best & Less occupies the space. At the back of the Coles store was a 'restaurant'/coffee lounge.
Now finishing off a law degree
Regards
Anthony P of Belfield
I wonder if Martin and Anthony ever rubbed shoulders at the Theatre Beautiful or on the rooftop express?
Dear Alice,
A few more memories of Roselands came to me at 0400 (while I am doing my essay).
(1) Grace Bros offered a parcel pickup on the ground floor level car-park. One could buy their goods in GB, request the cashier to deliver goods to parcel pick up area located on the ground floor car park level about 20 metres from the "steepish" exit.
(2) Grace Bros' hardware department had a timber department on the lower ground car park. They stocked and sold long beams of timber at least 3-4 metres in length and one could see them extend beyond the ground floor level. You could view the timber department from the ground floor car park.
(3) Ground floor of Grace Bros was known as "Fashion Square Level". Between the two escalators was the information desk which also played music. I remember (a) though not typical music, but heard the piano music of "Mrs Mills", and (b) occasionally but regularly over the PA system, the music would be interrupted with "operator 2, operator 2", or "operator 16, operator 16" - don't know what that meant.
(3) Recall Channel 10's children's marionette show "Owly's School" made an appearance in the "Jasper Room" about 1970. I believe it is now known as the "Community Room". I was disappointed with the show because the marionette's movements made very loud "clacking" sounds as they 'spoke' - it was louder than their voices. You never heard the "clacking" sound during the broadcast of "Owly's School". I recall Mr Owly was a well-dressed, bespectacled owl who spoke with a British accent who used to say "dear oh dear oh dear!"
Regards
Anthony P of Belfield
Anthony, I had forgotten about Owly's School. I think Owly may have owed a bit to Jimmy Edwards (of whom I have blogged elsewhere)and Mr Chips! We came out from the UK in 1968 and I think that program was on air then. Shows teh role sound engineers played at Channel 10! What is your essay about, not Roselands? I am struggling with 2 for my Masters of Education. We should correspond further!
Dear Alice, if you want to see more pictures of Roselands, including attractions, early architecture, Roselands Aquatic Centre including its construction in the 1960s, Canterbury Council have a site called "Pictorial Canterbury" located at http://photosau.com.au/canterbury/scripts/home.asp (remember to copy the whole link starting at http:// to .asp and place that it the browser's URL thingy).
In the search engine, put Roselands and click "search":
There are over 315 images. You will other architectural features present in the 1960s which are absent today such as the wooden waterwheel.
Ooh I forgot, this won't be in the photos, but here is another thing I recall:
In 1972, as you drive along Roselands Drive from King George's Rd, on the left side near the shopping complex, before it was a car-park, the land was used to host circuses (Circus Royale in 1969), exhibit aeroplanes and so on. But what I do recall, in an era before IMAX and large screen cinema, could be described as a cinema where one was encircled by eight screens. That's right eight screens. You've heard of surround sound audio. This was surround video. This exhibition was housed in a large inflatable balloon. No seats, but standing room only. In front of each person was a horizontal bar - believe me it was of use. This was especially so where there was a sequence of the movie going through the steep and winding streets of San Francisco. Even though the earth did not move, one was left with perception that you "rolled" with rapid changes in road direction as the cameras went along the windy and steep roads. I think that exhibition was there for two weeks at Roselands, and I think that it was the Walt Disney organisation which conducted it. Admission was free, but don't understand the purpose of running such an exhibition. Market research for new kind of movie presentation? Was not asked my opinion and never heard of this kind of movie exhibition at all.
Regards
Anthony P of Belfield
Fascinating memories, Anthony.I actually sourced some images from Canterbury Council's and the State Library's pictorial archives for my posting. Love discovering historical 'frozen moments' that you find trawling the archives, especially if they relate to a memory of there are vestiges left of whatever is shown. As I say in my blog. What other shopping centre has such extensive grounds? Surely we'll see some more development on the site(s) in the coming decades.
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