Adelaide St, 1909

News of the day

The Brisbane Courier - 22 August 1905, page 4

EXTENDING ADELAIDE STREET

Now that the time for the transfer of the Lands Department from the present premises to the new Executive Building is approaching, the City Council is again moving to have Adelaide-street extended to North Quay. The council have asked the Minister for lands to receive a deputation, but no date has yet been fixed. It is proposed that the Railway Commisioner and his staff, with the Chief Engineer and his staff, shall occupy the buildings now in the occupation of the Lands Department.

Background

Running in a north-easterly direction, Adelaide Street is one of the Brisbane streets named for a queen.  Under the provisions of the City of Brisbane Improvement Act 1916 and the Local Authorities Act Amendment Act 1923 the Brisbane City Council contributed significantly to the 1920s building boom, with a programme of city beautification and street improvements, including the cutting down and widening of several of the principal thoroughfares. From 1923 to 1928 the Brisbane City Council implemented its most ambitious town improvement scheme to that date: the widening of Adelaide Street by 14 feet (4.3 m) along its entire length. Resumptions in Adelaide Street had commenced in the 1910s, but work on the street widening did not take place until the 1920s. The work was undertaken in stages, commencing in 1923 at the southern end where the new Brisbane City Hall was under construction. Some buildings had the front section removed and a contemporary facade installed on the new road alignment. Elsewhere, earlier buildings were demolished and substantial new structures took their place. At the northern end of Adelaide Street the cutting down of the hill below St John's Cathedral in 1928 facilitated greater access to Petrie Bight, which, close to new city wharves at the end of Boundary Street, boomed in the 1920s as a warehousing district.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

In 1975, Adelaide Street was extended from George Street to North Quay as construction on the Brisbane Administration Centre was underway.

 

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