Richard Carter, Estate Agent and member of Ringwood Historical Society, spoke to our Society in March of the development of the Ringwood Shopping Centre from its early days in Whitehorse Road (Maroondah Highway) to the modern Eastland as it is today.
The Carter family have been Estate Agents in Ringwood since 1923 when Richard's grandfather established the business. £3.00 an acre was the price paid to Browns for the site of Eastland in 1858.
Initially Ringwood began its life near the antimony mines near the present Mines Road, about one and half kilometres from the present site. The building of the Railway Station in 1882 caused development of the town to centre nearby and the first shops were erected in Maroondah Highway near the corner of Ringwood Street.
By 1880 the land was sold for £100.00 an acre and the Grant family purchased some acres. The Grants could be said to be the founders of Ringwood as a commercial centre. In the 1889 land boom, land reached £400.00 an acre, but during the crash in the 18901s could not be sold.
The Grants ended up with 34 acres which was subdivided into 20 allotments facing Maroondah Highway and 124 allotments at the rear, (later Eastland). The Mechanics Institute and the Methodist Church were built near the front shops. Most shops were built by 1925 and in the next few years little changed in the Ringwood central district from 1929-47 due to the Great Depression and later World War 2. Materials and money were unavailable at this time for major commercial and residential development.
The Chamber of Commerce in the 1960's decided to purchase the football ground at the rear and lease it for commercial development. The Council were in favour too, and overcame the objections of the owners of the older shops.
In 1966 Council signed a lease with Eastland Shopping Centre Pty Ltd, of which the Myer Emporium was the largest lessee. Eastland was born and opened on October 31st 1967.
In the middle 1990's a large redevelopment of Eastland took place with the addition of K-Mart, Big W, a large Food Court, and a Cinema complex with restaurants and a rooftop car park.
The area had come a long way in the 150 years since the original sale of land and in 2008, the sesquicentennial (1858-2008) took place. Eastland can proudly take its place as one of the foremost regional shopping centres in Victoria serving the needs of the people in the Outer East of Melbourne.
Source: 2011-09 DTHS Newsletter
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