Morley Galleria Shopping Centre Redevelopment

After dropping my car off to have a tyre replaced, I decided to wander over to the south-west side of the Morley Galleria Shopping Centre redevelopment after spotting what I thought was a Tom Thumb mobile crane in the distance. I guessed it was a 12 or 13-tonne crane but I was way off. Once I got closer, I realised it was actually an 80-tonne Tadano. It was a fair distance away and partly hidden behind a row of trucks, so it's no wonder I got it so wrong. Then again, the smaller 12, 13, 16 and 20-tonne Tadanos are commonly nicknamed "Tom Thumbs", so at least I wasn't completely off!

Rigsafe Lifting Solution's Tadano AC 4.080-1 at the Morley Galleria

I then started photographing the rest of the redevelopment currently underway at Morley Galleria. I was taking some photo updates in part of the undercover car park when a young fella working on the site walked past me and I ended up engaging the poor bloke in a lengthy conversation, especially as construction, developments and progress have always fascinated me.

My Maman always says autism is both a blessing and a curse. You only have to look at the roughly 366,000 unsorted photos on my computer of construction sites, demolitions, historic buildings, abandoned places and everything in between to see what she means!

The man pointed towards where I'd last taken a photo, over in the direction of Coles. Apparently they're building a massive new bakery inside the store. I said, "No way! Aren't all the Coles bakeries in Canning Vale now?" Nope. Liquorland is also moving from its current location to the opposite side of Coles, where it'll sit right alongside the expanded bakery section.

Coles Supermarket bakery where the arrow is pointing to and Liquorland further to the left

The Coles store itself is currently much smaller than normal because of the staged construction works but when it's finished, it's going to be enormous. From the sounds of it, it'll be one of the biggest Coles supermarkets around. Coles has actually been part of Morley Galleria since the shopping centre opened in 1994, so after more than 30 years it's finally getting a major overhaul. The refurbishment forms part of the Morley Galleria redevelopment, which includes refurbished malls, new specialty stores, upgraded dining areas, a new entertainment precinct and other improvements due to be completed before Christmas.

JD Sports Australia shop being redeveloped and fitted out where the arrow is pointing to

Behind us, on the opposite side of the car park to Zambrero, JD Sports was fitting out a huge new store. I could have sworn I'd read they'd gone into liquidation but that was news to him, so I was obviously thinking of another company. JD Sports is one of the world's biggest sports fashion retailers. Founded in England in 1981, they specialise in sneakers, sportswear and streetwear from brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Puma, and have rapidly expanded across Australia over the past decade.

The external facade of Myers being painted grey

I managed to get a few photos from the top of the car park before my car was ready for collection. I had previously contacted Event Cinemas (formerly Greater Union Cinemas) several times to ask if I could photograph the Morley cinemas before they closed but, like most people and companies I try to contact, they never bothered responding. Perhaps they didn't think their cinemas were worth documenting but at least people still have their own experiences and memories to remember them by. I'd have to come back another day to photograph that part of the redevelopment on the north-west side of the centre.