The Demolition of the David Jones Building, Parramatta. Time Lapse Video

In August 2013 work began on the demolition of the David Jones building in Parramatta. The building was located on the south eastern end of the Lennox Bridge, Church Street, Parramatta. With the office of the Parramatta Heritage and Visitors Information Centre located directly across from the David Jones building we thought it was an ideal opportunity to record the demolition using time lapse video. We purchased a GoPro camera and set it to take a photograph every 1 minute for a few hours each day.

The images used to create this video were recorded between August 2013 and January 2014. The video above is a shortened 4 minute version. 

This is a high definition video so it is best viewed on a full screen.

For further information regarding the history of David Jones Building visit our blog post.

 Peter Arfanis, Archivist, Parramatta Council, Parramatta Heritage Centre, 2014

Australia’s Retail History - the David Jones building Parramatta

David Jones car park, 1969, Parramatta City Council Archives

The David Jones building on Church Street Parramatta was a permanent fixture since the early 1960’s and was seen as a bright star in the DJ’s galaxy. Yet over the years this shining light unfortunately lost most of its sparkle and in September 2002 the Daily Telegraph even referred to it as being a … dark and spooky store.  In June 2013 the Meriton group had started the demolition of the building ending a part of Australian retail history.