Elizabeth Street Mall, Downtown shopping mall in Hobart, Tasmania.
Elizabeth Street Mall is a pedestrian street mall on Elizabeth Street in Hobart, running one block between Collins Street and Liverpool Street. It is the largest shopping area in the city centre. The mall links the Wellington Centre and Arcade (15 shops and a Woolworths) through Wellington Court to the Bank Arcade (16 shops) and a TasTAFE at Purdys Mart, and via Elizabeth Lane to the Cat and Fiddle Arcade (70 shops), which connects to the Myer anchor and Centrepoint Shopping Centre (34 shops) across Murray Street.
The mall took shape during the 1970s pedestrianization movement, when this street was transformed from a standard traffic route into a dedicated commercial zone. The project faced early resistance from business owners but ultimately succeeded in reshaping the city center.
Wellington Bridge, still visible in the mall, was long a gathering spot: a 1913 account describes sporting men replaying the afternoon's football match there and kerbside politicians debating world affairs on Walch's Corner. The bridge later hosted a modern Speakers' Corner, and busking continues the tradition.
The mall runs one block between Collins Street and Liverpool Street, next to the Hobart Bus Mall, so buses stop at its edge. Wellington Bridge remains a visible landmark inside the pedestrian zone for orientation. Arcades open off the mall through Wellington Court, Elizabeth Lane and toward Murray Street, so through-routes continue beyond the block.
The mall follows the buried Hobart Rivulet valley, and the Wellington Bridge is still marked within it as a landmark and gathering spot. In 1913 a newspaper noted that road distances to Launceston were measured from the bridge, where crowds replayed football matches and debated politics. It later hosted a modern Speakers' Corner.
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