[COM] Rundle Mall Redevelopment | $30m

[Ben]

.....add some extended shopping hours and utilising those laneways to create small bars, cafes and restaurants.....

I agree. If the government allowed the city to open late every weekday and saturday nights till 9pm (10pm during daylight saving months), this would give people a reason to shop in the city over the suburban centres. When I was working in the city, I found it frustrating that I couldn't shop after work when I finished at 1730 or 1800.

Establishing eateries / bars alone (and updating the paving) would not draw the crowds the council are after.

Rogue the shops in Rundle Mall are already able to open till 9pm any week night but CHOOSE not to as there is no demand.

[Paulns]

If the government allowed the city to open late every weekday and saturday nights till 9pm (10pm during daylight saving months), this would give people a reason to shop in the city over the suburban centres. When I was working in the city, I found it frustrating that I couldn't shop after work when I finished at 1730 or 1800.

Totally agree. Sure Rundle Mall has the Adelaide Nostalga but with the ever expanding bounderies of suburban sprawl, council's going to have to work hard to encourage people to come shop or stay and shop in the city..
This will become even more relevant into the near future as well with the pending upgrades of Westfield Marion, Tea Tree Plaza and Centro Arndale about to or already occuring....

Although, I do hope that the upgrades occur and look forward to seeing the changes!!

[rhino]

Oh wow, new paving! That sure is something to get excited about. What is wrong with the existing paving?

It's dirty, uneven and looks cheap. It needs the highest quality paving possible.

I agree, Bulldozer. Charcoal/black paving was a move in the wrong direction IMO. I would like to see sandstone-coloured pavers in there, which would brighten up the place.

With regard to trams down the mall, Bourke St Mall is divided and not particularly pedestrian-friendly because of the danger of being run down, and the fact that the tram lines run in a lower deck than the rest of the mall. On the other hand, the fact that there's public transport right in the mall could be seen as being pedestrian friendly. Personally, I'd rather see more trees in the mall than trams, but would love to see trams at both ends (i.e. on Pulteney St as well as KWS)

I also think the idea of a second level along the northern side of the mall sounds very interesting. And I would love to see another, matching mall between Pulteney and Frome Streets.

[Norman]

I also think the idea of a second level along the northern side of the mall sounds very interesting. And I would love to see another, matching mall between Pulteney and Frome Streets.

I agree, cars don't belong on that strip.

[duke]

The city needs to get Woolworths and Target upgraded.
We need one of the new super Coles/Kmart stores in the mall.

We should have balcony level cafes and shops.
We should have more bars and clubs like the Richmond to get the night crowd.
We should also have an entertainment area, again as mentioned in other threads. Put something back at the top of the Myer center for kids. Surely Myer could 'donate' the space, they aren't using it. I'm sure they could get enough people in to cover the costs of running the place.

Gawler place should be paved down to Pirie street, have a shared street. Like in Salisbury where traffic shares the road with people. Anyone ever tried walking down Gawler place at lunch time, half the time you have to walk on the road anyway.

I think the different buildings need to move forward in their technology also. The days of staring at a list of words trying to find what you want is over. Anyone been to Melbourne or Sydney recently. The shopping centers had big touch screens that you could search for what you want with animations of where you have to go.

I think it was Melbourne that also had them in the street. If it was done right in the Mall they could potentially link them all up. So you could be in the mall looking for something and it could tell you to go to 5th floor Myer center.

[urban]

You're right duke, there are so many things that need to be done in and around Rundle Mall. If council did all the things on your list people wouldn't even notice the pavers. The side streets need a lot of attention and need to be turned into pedestrian friendly spaces instead of service lanes. Improve the connections to Grenfell St, Hindmarsh Sq and North Tce. Fix all of these problems before you put retailers through the inconvenience of replacing all of the pavers.

[bmw boy]

here is a pic from the queen street mall complex. Imagine this at the rundle street end, where the uni SA student accomodation building is. Would be perfect for some kind of large department store, possibly a 'coles superstore'.

[crawf]

The second restaurant and Rundle Convergence is going to improve Rundle Mall aswell

[jk1237]

If ya interested, heres some shots i took yesterday of the mall






Hungry Jacks carpark helped out for the last 2 shots

[crawf]

Great shots mate, theres going to be alot of money spent to install shops and cafes along the northern side after looking at those photos.

Its going to be interesting to see how they are going to do this especially with the historic buildings and the high ceiling ground floor shops

[teflon fox]

Bourke street mall wider and more open than ours. Trams down ours not really an option. A future consideration of a route incorporating pulteney street would
be ideal. Whatever you think of melbourne their tram system is superb. We've just returned from there and driving was never considered

[duke]

I think the biggest problem with the mall is it looks old, the shops look old.
If you go to TTP, Marion, etc. They have standards the shops must maintain. They are always upgraded.
The mall seems like you put a shop in and forget about it. Even the Myer Center looks daggy these days.

It needs more class, more atmosphere, useless visual stuff like Marion has near the cinemas.
Somehow I think the Nimbys will say nooo not our old style mall *sighs*

[Dave_The_Planner]

Oh wow, new paving! That sure is something to get excited about. What is wrong with the existing paving?

It's dirty, uneven and looks cheap. It needs the highest quality paving possible.

I can't ever remember being in London, New York or Toyko as a tourist and being concerned about the quality of paving. Public art and other items of civic interest would add far more colour to the mall than spending millions on paving.

[Dave_The_Planner]

I agree, Bulldozer. Charcoal/black paving was a move in the wrong direction IMO. I would like to see sandstone-coloured pavers in there, which would brighten up the place.

Not sure any Council would want to constantly clean sandstone paving. You'll find that is why cities all over the world use dark coloured paving - the stains caused by all sorts of spills and chewing gum especially!

[jk1237]

I think the biggest problem with the mall is it looks old, the shops look old.
If you go to TTP, Marion, etc. They have standards the shops must maintain. They are always upgraded.
The mall seems like you put a shop in and forget about it. Even the Myer Center looks daggy these days.

It needs more class, more atmosphere, useless visual stuff like Marion has near the cinemas.
Somehow I think the Nimbys will say nooo not our old style mall *sighs*

I have noticed quite a few shops get a complete makeover in the last couple of years. They stick their construction sites so far out into the mall its crazy. Theres about 4 going at the moment, But there are a few more that could be spruced up. The top 3 floors of the Myer Centre is real bad, but ground floor is much better. I like how Cibo and GloriaJeans/Starbucks have been allowed to put chairs and tables in the middle of the mall. Maccas on the other had, should have their license taken away
I really want that old coffee shop reopened in that old New Orleans style building at Gawler place. It had chairs on that cool balcony that looked out over the mall.
However, dont dare use the word atmosphere in the same sentence as Marion. Rundle Mall could be crumbling down around me before I wanna visit to Westfield Marion or TTP. Horrible, placeless, fake, shopping machines they are.

Also does anyone know any details of the old Galeria shopping centre. My architecture mate had to do some work on it last year as they were meant to be converting it into student housing. Its the old arcade that used to lead into John Martins from Gawler Pl. When he went in it, they found so many homeless squatters