Official opening of Old Perth Port

27/4/95

Premier Richard Court today officially opened the Old Perth Port, the first stage of an $8.5 million redevelopment of Barrack Square - the area surrounding the Barrack Street jetty.

The Premier said the exciting turn-of-the-century style waterfront development had the potential to become a significant tourist attraction with restaurants, cafes and specialty shops.

"The redevelopment of the Old Perth Port goes hand-in-hand with the State Government's vision for Perth city, in which Barrack Street will become a boulevard connecting Barrack Square to the city," he said.

"Barrack Square will be redeveloped as a people's square - a place where tourists and families can come and enjoy the waterfront atmosphere."

Mr Court congratulated the private developers, the Perth City Council and the Western Australian Tourism Commission for first developing the Barrack Square concept and now bringing it to fruition.

He said that when completed, the project would be more than three times the size of the existing development, with 4,000 square metres of lettable space.

Stage one of the project was completed at a cost of $3 million and currently employed 50 people and had 1,000 square metres of lettable space.

The development included Spice's Delight restaurant, Moorings Cafe, Barnacle's Snack Bar and the Swan River Trading Company - a shop which sold WA souvenirs such as quality jewellery, art and timber products.

The redevelopment also had a pearling exhibition on display and had the only surviving submersible canoe from Operation Rimau - the ill fated raid by members of Z-Force on Japanese shipping in Singapore during the World War II.

Mr Court said the Old Perth Port was only one of a number of initiatives now being undertaken by the Government and the private sector to raise the character and charm of the Perth city centre to a new level.

"For the Government, our aim is to create a physical environment that befits Perth's international status as a gateway to Australia and, most of all, is 'people friendly'," he said.