Jump to content

Rundle Street

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rundle Street

Rundle Street, looking east (April 2019)
Map
Rundle Street is located in City of Adelaide
West end
West end
East end
East end
Coordinates
General information
TypeStreet
LocationAdelaide city centre
Length500 m (0.3 mi)[1]
Opened1837
Major junctions
West endPulteney Street
Adelaide
East endRundle Road
Adelaide
Location(s)
LGA(s)City of Adelaide

Rundle Street,often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct fromRundle Mall,is a street in theEast Endof thecity centreofAdelaide,the capital ofSouth Australia.It runs fromPulteney StreettoEast Terrace,where it becomes Rundle Road through theEast Park Lands.[a]The street is close toAdelaide Botanic Gardens,Rundle Park,Rymill Park,Hindmarsh SquareandNorth Terrace.

The street contains numerous cafés, restaurants, shops, cinemas,clubs,andhotels.It is one of Adelaide's most popular streets for cafés and fashion. Most of the street has a heritage façade, but has been redeveloped for modern use, with some buildings converted to residences, such as the East End Markets.

Junction list and description

[edit]
Locationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
Adelaide city centre00.0Pulteney StreetContinues asRundle Mall
0.20.12Frome Street
0.50.31East TerraceContinues as Rundle Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bent Street and Union Street run through toGrenfell Streeton the southern side, Ebenezer Place runs south leading to apedestrianisedprecinct and turns westwards into Union Street, while thecul de sacSynagogue Place, and pedestrianised Vaughan Place (next tothe Exeterand leading toThe ElephantandPalace Nova) run off the northern side.[3]The street is two-lane, with parking on both sides plusbicycle lanes.It is one of the narrower streets of the Adelaide grid, at 1chain(66 ft; 20 m) wide.[citation needed]

A separate Rundle Street continues from Rundle Road throughKent Town.[4]

Rundle Mall

[edit]

The western extent of Rundle Street, which originally ran toKing William Street,was closed in 1972 to form thepedestrian streetof Rundle Mall.[citation needed]

History

[edit]

The street was named afterJohn Rundle,a director of theSouth Australian Companyand member of theBritish House of Commons,by theStreet Naming Committeeon 23 May 1837.[5]

It was installed with the first electric street lighting in South Australia in 1895 at the former intersection of Rundle, King William andHindleystreets.[citation needed]

TheMalcolm Reid & Co. Ltdbuilding at no. 187-207 was extensively refurbished in 1909.[6](Seebelowfor further details.)

Atramline ran through the streetin the early 20th century.[citation needed]

Grand Central Hotel / Foy & Gibson

[edit]
Grand Central Hotel, laterFoy & Gibson

The Grand Central Hotel was a magnificent heritage building which was located on the corner of Rundle Street and Pulteney Street, a six-storeyVictorian-stylebuilding opened in 1911. It was later concerted into aFoy & Gibsonretail store, designed to complement their adjacent furniture emporium adjacent. The building was demolished in 1975 and the Rundle Street UPark was built there.[7]

The Grand Central in its turn replaced the elegant and exclusive two-storeyYork Hotel,[8]but despite some high-profile guests (thePrince of Walesin 1920,Arthur Conan Doylein 1922), it never prospered, and around 1925 was absorbed into the emporium.[9]

The building was sold to theElectricity Trustfor showrooms and offices, then in 1975–1976 was demolished to make way for a multi-level car park,[10]an open, austere structure of concrete slabs and iron railings.

Rundle Street siege

[edit]

In September 1976, aVictorianman, Michael O'Connor, entered Hambly Clark's gun shop (now closed) at 182 Rundle Street, betweenPulteney Streetand Synagogue Place, and stole two shotguns which he loaded with his own ammunition. He then began shooting indiscriminately. After a lengthy confrontation he was shot by a police sniper and taken to the nearbyRoyal Adelaide Hospitalbut was declared dead on arrival.[11]

Notable buildings and traders

[edit]
Garden East(1990s)

TheGarden East apartmentswere built during the 1990s as part of the redevelopment of old warehouse and office buildings in the East End.[12]"Building D" was designed byWoods Bagotaround 1999.[13]

ThePalace Nova Eastend,acinemacomplex which has hosted theAdelaide Film Festival,[14]as well as continuing to host series of other annual film festivals created by other organisations, such as theAlliance Française's French Film Festival,[15]along with regular screenings of other films in their 12 cinemas, including the Eximax, the largest screen in Adelaide.[16]Radio stationFresh 92.7has its studios and office adjacent to Palace Nova Eastend.

There are many high-end fashion retailers in Rundle Street.[17][18]Among these is Miss Gladys Sym Choon, owned by a company which retained the name of one of theSym Choon family's businesses, in existence since the 1920s, when they bought the business in 1985.[19][20][21][b]

Pubsin Rundle Street include theExeter Hotel;[22]The Austral;[23]The Elephant British Pub(in Cinema Place, near the Palace Nova);[24]The Stag Public House(at the junction with East Terrace);[25]and theBelgian Beer Cafe(on Ebenezer Place).[26]

The Austral to Malcolm Reid building group

[edit]
Southern side, c.1929
Looking east, 1929
Malcolm Reid building, 1936

TheMalcolm Reid & Co. Ltdbuilding is part of a group at no. 187-207 originally built for theSouth Australian Companyin the early 1880s. The company commissioned architectWilliam McMinnto design a set of buildings in stages from east to west. The first building, comprising 14 shops and a hotel to provide accommodation in the three storeys above, were completed in January 1880. The section later occupied by Malcolm Reid & Co. was completed last, around 1883. The completed group occupies almost twotown acres,and is unusual in Adelaide in South Australia on account of its extent.[6]

The group is solidly constructed, made ofsandstonewithstuccodecoration. The original composition was altered slightly bychamferingthe corner with Bent Street, and adding a tiered balcony to the hotel (the Austral), and the hotel and the section occupied by Malcolm Reid were later painted.[6]

The group borderedFoy & Gibson'sto the west, with Malcolm Reid opening next door[27]in September 1909.[28]At this time, number 195 Rundle Street was occupied byW. Storrie and Company,"Importers of British & Foreign Merchandise", with F. Weller & Son leather shop next door. Malcolm Reid premises are located between Wellers shop and Foy and Gibson.[27]By 1929, Both Storrie and Weller had gone.[29]Storrie closed in 1916.[28]

This part of the building, formerly used as a warehouse by Charles Segar,[28]was extensively refurbished in 1909, to create a continuous frontage and almost complete reconstruction of the rear.[6]As part of the renovation, a large basement was excavated, measuring 66 ft (20 m) by 120 ft (37 m), and the total accommodation doubled, according toThe Advertiserof 14 September 1909. The expansion and opening took place within around a year of Reid and his family having been in England for several years.[28]

The accommodation behind the Austral and the four adjoining shops remain representative of 19th-century terrace development, with largebluestonewalls along withbrickwork.[6]

Austral Hotel, cnr Rundle & Bent Streets, 1929

The facade of the Malcolm Reid Emporium, occupying nos. 187-195, washeritage-listedon theSouth Australian Heritage Registeron 5 June 1986,[30]after a survey of the whole group was undertaken.[6]The signage is still retained today.[30]

The hotel on the corner of Bent Street was opened as Cohen's Family Hotel, in 1898 being renamed to the Astral.[28]The Austral Hotel, which was heritage-listed on 5 April 1984,[31]was held by licensees William and Edith Garrett in 1929.[32]It became known for its illegal betting in the 1950s, undergoing a transformation as a major venue forlive musicin the 1980s and 1990s. It became the first pub in South Australia to haveCoopers beeron tap,and later underwent an extensive restoration in 2020.[33]

Grundy's Shoes

[edit]

Grundy's Shoes has been in the shoe trade in the East End since 1868, first operating as Judd Shoes, acobbler,and continuing as a family business which later imported and sold shoes. The Rundle Street store (built 1896) first traded as H. Grundy and Co[34]making it the longest continuous trader in the street. The company expanded to include Grundy's and Barlows shoe stores acrossgreater AdelaideandVictor Harbor.[35]In March 2018, the store celebrated 150 years in operation by a ceremonial transportation of goods by horse and cart from theirGlenelgstore to their Rundle Street store.[36][35]As of 2023Grundy's is owned by the Judd and Whittenbury families, who bought the business in 1921.[34]It continued to perform strongly through a downturn in the industry in 2019.[37]

Rundle Lantern

[edit]
The Rundle Lantern, anLEDdisplay on the Rundle Street Upark
The lighting up ceremony of theRundle Lantern

In late 2006, theAdelaide City Councilproposed to transform Rundle Street's western approach, the Pulteney Street-Rundle Mall junction, into aPiccadilly CircusorTimes Square-type meeting place at a cost of around $1.5 million.[38]The proposal, based on ideas expressed in mid-2005 for neon billboards and video screens,[39]included an initial nine design concepts, which were narrowed to two for consideration by the Council in early 2007.[40]

A minimal design called theRundle Lantern– a 748-panel LED lighting display wrapping around the façade of the Rundle Street carpark, Upark, – was eventually selected, with the Council deciding that video screens were inappropriate for the location.[41]The Rundle Lantern was designed and developed by a local company, Fusion, with the design strategy focused on creating a "lantern" for the city to use as a dynamic cultural canvas. There has been controversy about crediting artists that have contributed to the lantern.[42][further explanation needed]

The Lantern is completelysolar-poweredandcarbon neutral,and there is a webcam via which anyone can view the changingdigital artat night, or what it looks like at any time of day. More than 16 million colours can be projected onto the surfaces of the Lantern.[43]

See also

[edit]

iconAustralian Roads portal

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^A separate Rundle Street continues from Rundle Road throughKent Town).[2]
  2. ^SeeList of Chinese Australiansfor more detail.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ab"Rundle Street"(Map).Google Maps.Google. 1 June 2022.Retrieved1 June2022.
  2. ^2003 Adelaide Street Directory, 41st Edition.UBD. 2003.ISBN0-7319-1441-4.
  3. ^"Rundle Street".Google Maps.Retrieved12 February2021.
  4. ^2003 Adelaide Street Directory, 41st Edition.UBD. 2003.ISBN0-7319-1441-4.
  5. ^"Rundle Mall"(PDF).Adelaide City Council.Retrieved6 January2006.
  6. ^abcdef"Austral Hotel and shops: 187-207 Rundle Street"(PDF).Corporation of the City of Adelaide.The text in this Information Sheet was copied fromThe Heritage of the City of Adelaide: An Illustrated Guide(1996)
  7. ^"One-of-a-kind building demolished for a carpark".April 2018.
  8. ^"Expansion of Adelaide".The Advertiser (Adelaide).South Australia. 17 June 1911. p. 6.Retrieved10 January2020– via Trove.
  9. ^"Grand Central Hotel".The Register (Adelaide).South Australia. 12 August 1924. p. 9.Retrieved10 January2020– via Trove.
  10. ^"Adelaide City Heritage: Grand Central Hotel".National Trust of South Australia. 15 May 2013.Retrieved10 January2020.
  11. ^Grace, Lynton (11 January 2014)."The most notorious crimes that shook and horrified South Australia".Retrieved27 May2021.
  12. ^"From 1993".Rundle Street East.12 October 2015.Retrieved14 March2024.
  13. ^"Messenger Press: Architects' views of Adelaide".State Library of South Australia.Retrieved14 March2024.
  14. ^"Adelaide Film Festival, Oct 14 - Oct 25".Palace Nova.Retrieved11 February2021.
  15. ^"Alliance Française French Film Festival 2021".Palace Nova.Retrieved11 February2021.
  16. ^"About Palace Nova Cinemas Adelaide and Prospect".Palace Nova.Retrieved11 February2021.
  17. ^"Fashion".Rundle Street East.Retrieved25 May2023.
  18. ^Rice, Katelin (10 May 2023)."Timeless Australian fashion brand Assembly Label officially opens on Rundle Street".Glam Adelaide.Retrieved25 May2023.
  19. ^"About Us".Miss Gladys Sym Choon.Retrieved11 February2021.
  20. ^Stewart, Hannah (16 December 2015)."Sym Choon Shops".Adelaidia.Retrieved11 February2021.
  21. ^"Sym Choon Shops".Adelaide City Explorer.Retrieved25 May2023.
  22. ^"Home".The Exeter Hotel.Retrieved20 March2024.
  23. ^"Home".The Austral.Retrieved12 February2021.
  24. ^"Home".The Elephant British Pub.Retrieved12 February2021.
  25. ^"The Stag Public House".The Stag Public House.Retrieved12 February2021.
  26. ^"Home".Belgian Beer Cafe, Adelaide, SA.Retrieved25 May2023.
  27. ^ab"Rundle Street near Pulteney street"(photo + text).State Library of South Australia.Retrieved20 March2024.
  28. ^abcdeAquilareen (30 June 2020)."Malcolm Reid's store, Adelaide".Flickr.Retrieved14 March2024.
  29. ^"Rundle Street, Adelaide"(photo + text).State Library of South Australia.28 February 1929.Retrieved20 March2024.
  30. ^ab"Facade of Malcolm Reid's Emporium".Experience Adelaide.16 September 2019.Retrieved20 March2024.
  31. ^"The South Australia Heritage Places database".maps.sa.gov.au.Retrieved20 March2024.
  32. ^"Bent Street, Adelaide"(photo + text).State Library of South Australia.18 March 1929.Retrieved20 March2024.
  33. ^"The Austral Hotel".Experience Adelaide.23 June 2021.Retrieved20 March2024.
  34. ^ab"About Us".Grundy's Shoes.28 April 2023.Retrieved25 May2023.
  35. ^abBaker, Rebecca (20 March 2018)."The shoe store that's still in the family, 150 years on".Adelaide Now.Retrieved25 May2023.
  36. ^"Grundy/Barlow Shoes to recreate history across 150 years, from Glenelg to Adelaide".Newsmaker.13 March 2018.Retrieved25 May2023.
  37. ^Siebert, Bension (5 June 2019)."Online key as SA shoe store sales trip over".InDaily.Retrieved25 May2023.
  38. ^Vlach, Anna. "Adelaide's Times Square",The Advertiser,13 November 2006.
  39. ^Drayse, Rebecca. "Our Times Square",The City Messenger,13 July 2005.
  40. ^Leo, Jessica. "Decision on Adelaide's Times Square",The Advertiser,16 April 2007.
  41. ^Leo, Jessica. "Council votes for scaled 'Times Square'",The Advertiser,16 April 2007.
  42. ^"Art: Adelaide artists get a raw deal when producing Rundle Lantern animations".Retrieved15 January2015.
  43. ^"Rundle Lantern".City of Adelaide.Retrieved20 March2024.
[edit]