Eastland Shopping Centre

Eastland Shopping Centre is a large shopping centre located in the outer eastern suburb of Ringwood, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, which first opened on 31 October 1967.It is close to Ringwood railway station, located opposite the centre on Maroondah Highway. The centre features 2 main levels of shops, with a 3rd level containing a Hoyts 12 screen cinema complex and restaurants, forming a total of approximately 235 stores. It is the largest shopping centre in the City of Maroondah, and is located in relatively close proximity to Westfield Doncaster and Westfield Knox.HistoryConstruction commenced on the two level enclosed complex in July 1966, with a 14,000m2 Myer and a 2500m2 Woolworths supermarket and variety store as major anchors, along with 40 speciality stores and a 1200 space car park. The initial centre cost $13,000,000 (1966) ($138,000,000 (2008)) to construct, on a 5.67 hectare parcel of land just north of the Maroondah Highway in the heart of Ringwood.In 1993 a massive redevelopment of the centre was announced, which involved the demolition of the existing centre in its entirety except for the 4 storey Myer building (which was simply refurbished), and after a series of 3 staged openings culminated in the relaunch of a new look Eastland in May, 1995. This extension brought the Centre to 53,300 square metres with major retailers Myer, Safeway and Kmart and 170 specialty retailers.