Changes...

Once upon a time a group of farmers from Lancashire settled in an area in the north of the fledgling settlement of Brisbane. The area, which would become known as Everton Park, was covered in scrub, much of which was cleared for grazing and vineyards. This photo was taken in 1910 and shows South Pine Rd, with Stafford Rd intersection on the left, mid photo. The man on horseback is the postman (that track/road where the postman's horse is standing is Gordon Pde) who has brought mail from Alderley.

The suburb remained quite rural until after WW2 when huge tracts of housing were built in the area. Then in the late 1950s, a huge warehouse/distribution centre for an early supermarket chain, Brisbane Cash and Carry (BCC) was built on land bounded by Sth Pine Rd and Stafford Rd. (At various times I've written posts about those paddocks of Murphy's Dairy seen beside the warehouse buildings...the remnants of which still exist to this day.)

Those readers who know Brisbane might notice the TV towers on the range.

BCC would be eventually taken over by Woolworths and the complex would be a big employer of local residents. A Woolworths' supermarket was built in the 60s/70s but it had long been abandoned when I moved to the suburb. Eventually though the complex was moved to Acacia Ridge and the site languished. 

Over the years plans for redevelopment of the site by the owners, Woolworths, were submitted for approval ; some plans were rejected outright and the owners of close-by shopping centres put in objections and one development company decided to pull out. But eventually early in 2014 things started to happen.

The demolition took months!! As well as the big warehouse buildings and the old supermarket, the big trees on the site were demolished too...

And I took photos on my phone or camera whenever I noticed progress on the build.
Obviously a lot of earthworks after demolition and carting off of all those bricks from the buildings!

 The site is so big that there are 2 frontages. The next photo shows the work from the old entrance on Southpine Rd...

 Then suddenly in August 2014, (well us locals felt it was sudden...one day nothing, then next day!) large walls appeared...this was the new Woolies supermarket...

Eventually work began on another building on the site...Masters a hardware store.

In the meantime work continued on the new supermarket and shops...

Showing construction progress from Dec 2014 to April 2015

And then the box shaped buildings at the other end of the site began to 'morph' into the familiar looking Masters...showing photos taken January to April 2015

And of course by late April this year, there needed to be lots of tidying up and landscaping the site as it was to open for business in May...

The supermarket was the first to open. DH and I went for a look a few days after the official opening...
The balloon arch was still there from the Opening :-)

 Above the entrance to the supermarket is a collage mural of the original buildings on the site...

 These 2 gentlemen are obviously VIPs from the Distribution Centre Days...

 The exterior,,,

 Looking north...food outlets and a gym.

Now one more photo...the corner of Stafford Rd and Sth Pine Rd...photo taken yesterday. Its a bit different from that first photo in this post! The corner I'm referring to is behind the postman in that old photo.

DH and I still continue to shop at the Coles supermarket across the road as the staff know us. We also continue to patronise our usual coffee shop instead of the fancy new one near the Woolies' supermarket entrance.