The changing face of Maude St
Maude St was named after Ellen Maude Leahy.
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She was the wife of Alfred Leahy, who surveyed and named a number of streets in Shepparton in 1877.
In the early years, the significant shops located in the CBD section included: Fairleys Department Store, Maples, WS James/Jesse’s, Lyric Theatre, Dear’s Boot Shop/Clyde Young Shoes, Taiwan Restaurant and the Borough Council Chambers, to name a few.
In April 1989, the section of Maude St between High and Fryers Sts, as well as Fraser St and part of Stewart St, was closed to traffic to begin construction of the Maude St Mall.
It was officially opened on November 9.
The mall began well.
But through the years, the detractors became more vocal as malls around the world started to close.
CBDs were changing their focus regarding shoppers and traffic.
In October 2019, Greater Shepparton City Council commenced a revitalisation of the mall.
In December 2022, one-way traffic was introduced to a rejuvenated Maude St.
Lost Shepparton Facebook comments:
Annemaree Shepherd
I used to work in Fairleys in the fashion department.
I was a corsetier.
I loved my job there and worked with some great people.
Helene Stuart
We always went to Fairleys … and what a great department shop it was.
My mum always bought two rabbits ( think they cost 5/-) at the deli department.
Christine O’Halloran
The old Borough Council Chambers building — employment off on the right.
Halfway up the stairs was the telephone business office and on the top floor was the PMG/Telecom Aust engineers office, which housed the estimating, drafting, engineers and works office and costing area for PMG/Telecom.
It was a beautiful building.
Antonella Skinner
It can no longer be called a Mall.
It is now just a one-way street, which is a nightmare to exit.
It should have stayed as a mall and have been featured as the coffee and food mall of Shepparton.
Colleen Schier
The mall was a collaborative effort between the major commercial property owners in the CBD and the council.
A lot of the shop owners called it “the Great White Elephant”, and it sure was.
So bright you had to wear your sunnies every time you went there.
Though Captain Baked Potato spuds was the best thing in the mall, it just wasn’t enough to save it.
It was also a good place to meet your teenage friends, late night shopping on Friday night before going out somewhere.
Inadequate parking and restricted access was the biggest failure for the mall, always was.
Now the current traffic hazard, complete with trip hazards, that it is now, still, will do little to allow shop owners to recover from the constant issues with their customers unable to access their shops easier. This was always the issue for shop owners and their customers.
Would have been better to spend the money to get the street back to what was before, but there has been some structural changes to buildings since then, I’m guessing.
Over the decades the mall has been there, I have seen this big town turn into a small city, with more folk and traffic than ever before and the council has done little to address the parking issues it has in the CBD.
Ann Mallamaci
Maples was my first job after finishing school in 1977, Allan McLeod was the manager. Great store.
Branka Vukelić Fantini
I remember chucking laps down Maude St.
A lot of times someone I knew would always be on Fairleys street corner, and they would say when I pull up, “Give us a lift to the lake” ... oh, the good old days!
Pics of the past columnist