Bolands gets a fresh facade
WHEN you have been around for a century, it is a given there will be a few cracks to fill in and surfaces to smooth.
That is just what has been happening this week at the 106-year-old Bolands Centre on the corner of Lake and Spence streets.
Manager Kay Bullpitt said maintenance work was required almost continuously in the historic building, constructed for businessman Michael Boland and used as a department store.
Today, there is a mix of lower ground retail and internal offices and conference rooms.
Ms Bullpitt said second floor lighting and painting was re- cently completed. Now, black scaffolding out the front hides the tradesmen replacing and painting the awning ceiling.
Collins Constructions FNQ’s Pelham Collins said the majority of the ceiling would be replaced with fibro, but the front was being restored using hardwood, as per the original build.
“The building has been around for 100 years so we are continually doing maintenance,” Ms Bullpitt said.
Since April, the centre has also expanded to offer four offices and a meeting room, albeit losing a retail space in the process.
Ms Bullpitt said in her 19 years at the centre she had built and knocked down countless partitions to provide spaces for clients.
“We have a number of day stay offices, for people who want to come in and meet clients somewhere professional,” she said.
“But the demand for the building takes us wherever we need to go in terms of reconfiguration.”
In July, for the first time, visitors were offered a rare opportunity to go inside the building, watch a fashion parade by Wild Sugar owner Sajeela Jamie and enjoy a complimentary afternoon tea.
The Bolands Centre used to be home to processions and fashion parades. The building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2006.
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