Bolands Centre, Heritage-listed building in Cairns, Australia.
Bolands Centre is a large reinforced concrete former department store at the corner of Lake and Spence Streets, designed by Cairns architect Edward Gregory Waters and built in 1912–1913 for merchant Michael Boland. For many years it was the tallest structure in Cairns and is the last surviving example of a large early 20th-century department store in the city.
Michael Boland, an Irish immigrant who arrived in Cairns in 1882, commissioned this reinforced concrete department store, built in 1912–1913 to designs by architect Edward Gregory Waters. For many years it was the tallest structure in the city and is the last surviving large early 20th-century department store in Cairns. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 April 2006.
The building is also known as Boland's Building and Boland's Departmental Store. It housed a David Jones department store and a well-known toy shop, and Michael Boland's firm supplied goods to Cairns while extending credit that helped early sugar growers survive. Boland, a Labour Party and union supporter, donated money in 1904 toward repairs at one of the local Chinese temples.
The building sits conveniently in the city center and is easily accessible on foot with adjacent streets and public transport options nearby. Its mixed-use design with ground-floor shops makes it an active part of daily street life in Cairns.
For many years the reinforced concrete store was the tallest structure in Cairns, and it is the last surviving large early 20th-century department store in the city. It was designed by Cairns architect Edward Gregory Waters and built in 1912–1913 for merchant Michael Boland.
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