News & Discussion: General CBD Development

[Nathan]

I never said the 90's were better "because there was a Hungry Jacks on Hindley Street". It was simply a generalisation. Some people just feel the need to justify their existance by be-littling people. Even if I did mean the 90's were so much better because there was a hungry Jacks on Hindley Street, why the need to add your 2 cents and role eyes?

I can list off countless reasons why the 90's appeared to be more exciting whether they were or not i'm unsure but mainly for children because in the 90's I was a child. These include:

Dazzleland
Timezone on Hindley
John Martins and the Magic Cave
Old David Jones store exhibits (flowers etc) and store windows, pianist
Lego Exhibits in Myer Centre
Visiting my grandma who worked in Miller Andersons Dept Store on Hindley

It was such a more exciting time to be a child then visiting the mall and surrounds these days. All of the above have been taken away and replaced with stores you can find at a suburban mall - boring. maybe its a by product of Globalisation. Everything, everywhere becoming the same.

You really can't see how your post could have been interpreted that way? And I said nothing to belittle you, and this being a forum, I'm perfectly entitled to add to the conversation.

It's fine to reminisce about things from childhood, but there is a heavy dose of rose tinted glasses whenever anyone does that. Just because the things you enjoyed as a kid are no longer around, doesn't mean that particular time was better nor does it mean there is nothing for kids now. I miss going to Bertie's for pancakes but that doesn't mean there aren't different good options around now.

[claybro]

For what it's worth, I think Adelaide in the 80's was its best recent decade. The Grand Prix, CBD building boom, Melbourne in recession, Lennies Tavern, Bojangles, Tavern 63, Sams @ Redlegs club..,Old Lion Ballroom, ahhh the memories. (rose coloured glasses firmly planted on).

[neoballmon]

HJ's was on the opposite side to maccas and was 2 levels. I remeber as a kid eating on the balcony next to timezone. I think the 90's in Adelaide were so much better then present oh the memories ..

Agree 100%

Wasn't there a HJ's at Glenelg as well, at one point?

Yes, I came across a photo a while back that had it. I'll see if I can find it later tonight.

[Aidan]

I never said the 90's were better "because there was a Hungry Jacks on Hindley Street". It was simply a generalisation. Some people just feel the need to justify their existance by be-littling people. Even if I did mean the 90's were so much better because there was a hungry Jacks on Hindley Street, why the need to add your 2 cents and role eyes?

I can list off countless reasons why the 90's appeared to be more exciting whether they were or not i'm unsure but mainly for children because in the 90's I was a child. These include:

Dazzleland
Timezone on Hindley
John Martins and the Magic Cave
Old David Jones store exhibits (flowers etc) and store windows, pianist
Lego Exhibits in Myer Centre
Visiting my grandma who worked in Miller Andersons Dept Store on Hindley

That last one would've been a bit difficult in the '90s, as it closed down in the '80s. Myer occupied its building (and the Centrepoint shop that's now Target) while the Myer Centre was under construction.

[monotonehell]

...Visiting my grandma who worked in Miller Andersons Dept Store on Hindley...

I used to like visiting your grandma too.

How good was Timezone Meridian though? Amazing place. Never seen an arcade with that much themeing before or since. Not even the arcade in Disneyland is that good.

[Brando]

...Visiting my grandma who worked in Miller Andersons Dept Store on Hindley...

I used to like visiting your grandma too.

How good was Timezone Meridian though? Amazing place. Never seen an arcade with that much themeing before or since. Not even the arcade in Disneyland is that good.

Timezone was where the Cinema used to be wasn't it?

I remember the staircases either side of the front entrance.

[Ben]

...Visiting my grandma who worked in Miller Andersons Dept Store on Hindley...

I used to like visiting your grandma too.

How good was Timezone Meridian though? Amazing place. Never seen an arcade with that much themeing before or since. Not even the arcade in Disneyland is that good.

Timezone was where the Cinema used to be wasn't it?

I remember the staircases either side of the front entrance.

No the one i'm thinking of was on the southern side. It was massive and 2 levels. Similar to the one at crown Casino I would say but ours was better

[Brando]

Yeah that's the one i'm thinking of mate, we had Greater Union on the Northern side and i'm sure where Timezone was, it was a Cinema beforehand.

Do you remember the two staircases that went either side of the building as you walked in?

[Ben]

Ah I thought you meant greater union. I briefly remember it and a space shuttle you could sit in that moved. I would've been around 6 yrs old so stretching it a bit.

[Nathan]

Timezone Meridian was where the ASO is now.

It was originally the Olympia ice skating rink, before being converted into a cinema. Was closed and knocked down (except for the stage) in the 30s and was rebuilt by Greater Union. Greater Union then sold it in the 70s since they had the other cinema across the road, and it became a restaurant and then a nightclub. Greater Union then purchased in back and ran it through the 80s, before closing it again in 91 when the new new GU opened (Yes, they kept moving back and forth across the road). It then of course became Time Zone, and then the ASO Grainger Studio.

[[Shuz]]

I thought TimeZone was in the old City Nightclub?

[rhino]

Timezone Meridian was where the ASO is now.

It was originally the Olympia ice skating rink, before being converted into a cinema. Was closed and knocked down (except for the stage) in the 30s and was rebuilt by Greater Union. Greater Union then sold it in the 70s since they had the other cinema across the road, and it became a restaurant and then a nightclub. Greater Union then purchased in back and ran it through the 80s, before closing it again in 91 when the new new GU opened (Yes, they kept moving back and forth across the road). It then of course became Time Zone, and then the ASO Grainger Studio.

You sure about that being the 30s? Cos I remember ice skating at an upstairs rink in Hindley St in the 1970s. Same place? Even my parents weren't born in the 30s.

[Nathan]

You sure about that being the 30s? Cos I remember ice skating at an upstairs rink in Hindley St in the 1970s. Same place? Even my parents weren't born in the 30s.

There's another rink, upstairs, behind the row that includes Crazy Horse & Tapas. My graduation exhibition was held in there (and it was like a sauna inside). From memory, access was from the door next to Tequilarea (at least it was 10 years ago).

[rhino]

Ahh - thanks

[SAR526]

WESTS,Adelaide01.jpg (405.78 KiB) Viewed 2810 times

Timezone Meridian was where the ASO is now.

It was originally the Olympia ice skating rink, before being converted into a cinema. Was closed and knocked down (except for the stage) in the 30s and was rebuilt by Greater Union. Greater Union then sold it in the 70s since they had the other cinema across the road, and it became a restaurant and then a nightclub. Greater Union then purchased in back and ran it through the 80s, before closing it again in 91 when the new new GU opened (Yes, they kept moving back and forth across the road). It then of course became Time Zone, and then the ASO Grainger Studio.

Nathan's brief history is correct, except that the WESTS OLYMPIA was formerly a roller skating rink. The very large barn of a silent picture theatre closed to be transformed into a luxurious atmospheric theatre similar to the State in Melbourne, designed by the famous American architect John Eberson, which gave the illusion of being an outdoor Roman garden, complete with classical statues and clouds drifting across the stars twinkling in the 'sky'. Unfortunately the Great Depression delayed the rebuilding until the new WESTS theatre opened in the art moderne style, relying on the artistic changing of concealed coloured neon tube lighting for stunning effects on flowing wall lines. This is the one which had (has) the circular foyer with curving staircases one either side and is now the home of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. It was TimeZone for a time. There was also a small iceskating rink on an upper floor of a nearby building.

With the METRO, almost opposite, the only theatre in this country to have been designed in the U.S.A. (in the architectural offices of Lowes incorporated, the theatre division of Metro Goldwyn Mayer), Wests at night made a brilliant display. Yes Adelaide WAS a great deal more interesting, particularly at night, back in the 30s, when it was claimed that Rundle Street's flashing neon signs and multiple theatres and department stores was second only to Broadway, New York, for its brilliance at night. Whether that is true or not I find the city, apart from the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, so dull today that I very rarely go into the city at all. Those who cannot remember the glorious REGENT, and the Wests and Metro theatres don't know what they have missed. Look at my logo to get some idea of the beauty of the Regent, and at my photographs above and below.