The Adelaide Central Market is a major fresh produce market in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. As one of the oldest markets in Australia, Adelaide Central Market has a large range of fresh food, including fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry,

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

, cheeses, baked goods, small goods, and health foods, along with several cafés and eateries. Currently, approximately one million kilograms of fresh produce are delivered to the market and sold every month. It is a popular tourist attraction in the city, with more than 8.5 million visitors every year. It is also referred to simply as the Central Market. A $400 million redevelopment of the adjacent Central Market Arcade was approved in January 2021, which will include a mixed-use 35-storey building comprising offices, residential apartments and a hotel.

History

19th century

In January 1869 some traders moved from the

East End Markets The East End is a part of the Adelaide central business district, in the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre. This area is a popular office and retail district and has an increasing residential interest from the building of high-dens ...

, between

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes Ru ...

and North Terrace, to a new market site known as the City Market. They traded on open land for some time. Two large sheds were built in

Grote Street Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is on the northern border of Chinatown and the Adelaide Central Market, and is a lively centre for shopping and restaurants. Th ...

that year, completed by June. The City Market was officially opened by Mayor Judah Solomon on 23 January 1870. Later that year, three acres of land were bought for £2,600 in the present-day location. At its commencement, it opened on Tuesdays and Saturdays with 50–100 produce carts selling vegetables, fruit, hay, fish, and game. Shops were built along the perimeter of the market and facing the streets. In the early 1880s,

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

supplies were scarce in Adelaide and had to be brought from

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

and

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

by rail.

20th century

On 8 February 1900, a foundation stone was laid by Mayoress Rosa Ware, in the presence of the

Mayor of Adelaide This is a list of the mayors and lord mayors of the City of Adelaide, a Local government in Australia, local government area of South Australia. The first local government in Australia was formed on 31 October 1840 with the election of ninet ...

, Arthur Ware. Shops were added as well as a

refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

plant for

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

was added in 1902 to replace the

gas lighting Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

shops were added in 1915 on the eastern side. At that stage, amusements were provided such as

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

, billatelle (a variation of

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

), shooting galleries, ball bowling, hoop-la and cheap jacks. The addition of other businesses, such as the Hampshire Hotel in 1911, the Moore's Department stores in 1914, and

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

also attracted customers. The Market opened for trading on Tuesday, commencing April 1920. In December 1922, the fish quarters of the Market were demolished and further arcades of 32 shops were added. On 27 December 1925, the northeastern quarters of the Market were partly damaged by a fire. In 1929, butchers' licenses for the Market were not renewed because of sanitary concerns. Prior to August 1965, the Market was known as the "City Market," and after that, it was known as the "Central Market". Redevelopment of the market commenced on 18 January 1965 with the demolition of the east end facade on Grote Street and the addition of a

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

. The new market was opened on 17 June 1966 by Lord Mayor

James Irwin James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force Aviator, pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landin ...

Coles Supermarkets Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty. Ltd., doing business as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in the suburb of Collingwood, Victoria, Colli ...

joined the neighbouring Central Market Arcade in the Central Market precinct in June 1967. Further covered car parking was developed as well as the addition of a shopping complex. On 27 June 1977, the market's southern stall area was badly damaged in a fire. Major restoration was undertaken to repair the damage caused by the fire. The restoration was completed in 1983.

21st century

As of the 2000s, Central Market is surrounded by the Central Market Arcade, Adelaide China Town, and Market Plaza. The centre of the Central Market is made up primarily of fresh produce stalls, with the perimeter and arcade shops being mainly

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s, and

variety store A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. It usually sel ...

s. In 2015, the huge

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

statue the previously adorned

John Martin's John Martin & Co. Ltd, colloquially known as John Martin's or simply Johnnies, was an Adelaide-based company which ran a popular chain of department stores in South Australia. It operated for more than 130 years, from 1866 until its closure i ...

and David Jones in

Rundle Mall Rundle Mall is a pedestrian street mall located in Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened as a pedestrian mall in September 1976 after the closing of the western section of Rundle Street between King William Street and Pulteney Street, to ...

was mounted on the Grote St exterior wall of the market. The Coles Supermarket was closed in 2022 and demolition commenced. Construction of a hotel, the Treehouse Hotel, will take place in 2023, as part of a $400 million Market Square development. The will include a commercial component (2025), retail development (2026), and housing (2025–2026). Treehouse Hotel is a brand owned by SH Hotels & Resorts, with

Treehouse Hotel London Treehouse Hotel London is a hotel in Central London, England. It is located on the corner of Langham Place and Riding House Street, formerly the site of the Queen's Hall concert hall, which was bombed in 1941. The hotel was developed by the Cr ...

being the first to open in November 2019. The Adelaide one will be the first in Australia, but it is also expanding to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Central Market Precinct

Including the main Central Market building, the Central Market Precinct is composed of five separately managed areas.

Adelaide Central Market

The market itself holds over 76 stalls in a single undercover area. The Market is owned by the

City of Adelaide The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia. It is legally defi ...

and is managed by the Adelaide Central Market Authority (a subsidiary and

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example reg ...

of the City of Adelaide), which also manages the car park above the entire precinct.

Central Market Arcade

Originally known as Victoria Square Arcade, the Central Market Arcade is located to the immediate east of the Central Market. The current arcade was constructed following the redevelopment of the market proper and was opened by then Premier

David Tonkin David Oliver Tonkin (20 July 1929 – 2 October 2000) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of South Australia from 18 September 1979 to 10 November 1982. He was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Bragg at the 197 ...

on 3 November 1982; it houses over 60 specialty shops. Privately owned from its construction, the City of Adelaide assumed ownership of the arcade in September 2018 when the building's ground lease expired and began plans to completely redevelop the site into a new arcade topped with a mixed-use tower.

The Market Plaza

Located on the western side of the Central Market and linking it with Chinatown, the Market Plaza houses a number of specialty shops, cafes, and a food court. The Market Plaza was opened by Lord Mayor James Jarvis on 3 December 1985 and is independently owned and managed.

Gouger Street

Gouger Street Gouger Street ( ) is a major street in the centre of Adelaide, South Australia.Map
of the Adelaide ...

in the

Adelaide central business district Adelaide city centre () is the inner city locality of Adelaide, Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Adelaide l ...

is well known for its abundance of multicultural cuisine and dining establishments.

Chinatown

Plaques and commemorative stones

File:Adelaide Central Market Buildings Foundation Stone.jpg, Foundation stone for the Adelaide Central Market Buildings set by Mayoress Rosa Ware and Mayor Arthur Ware on 8 February 1900. Currently located at the

entrance. File:Adelaide Central Markets Redevelopment Opening Plaque 1966.jpg, Plaque marking the opening of the redeveloped Adelaide Central Market Buildings by Lord Mayor

on 17 June 1966. Currently located at the

entrance. File:Victoria Square Arcade Opening Plaque.jpg, Plaque marking the opening of the Victoria Square Arcade (now Central Market Arcade) by Premier

on 3 November 1982. Currently located at the Victoria Square entrance to the Central Market Arcade. File:Market Plaza Opening Plaque.jpg, Plaque marking the opening of The Market Plaza by Lord Mayor James Jarvis on 3 December 1985. File:Adelaide Central Markets Restoration Plaque 1987.jpg, Plaque marking the restoration of the Adelaide Central Market Buildings by Lord Mayor James Jarvis on 14 April 1987. Currently located at the Grote Street entrance.

References

External links

* {{coord, 34, 55, 47, S, 138, 35, 51, E, display=title Buildings and structures in Adelaide Tourist attractions in Adelaide Retail markets in Australia History of Adelaide Shopping arcades in Australia Retail buildings in South Australia Federation style architecture Meat markets Food markets in Australia