Westpoint celebrates 50 wonderful years
by Greg Martin
Early last month , tenants , staff and two very special guests were on hand to celebrate Westpoint Blacktown ’ s 50th birthday .
Those two guests were two Riverstone legends , 95-year-old Bill McNamara , the former developer and builder of the complex and Alan Watton , 79 , centre manager .
Westpoint ’ s general manager , Craig Brown , had much delight in accompanying both men and Bill ’ s daughter , Maureen , a former tenant of Westpoint , on a tour of the shopping complex .
Both men were thrilled and honoured to be given the Royal Tour by Craig and other staff members .
It took a lot longer for Alan and Bill to navigate the complex than it did when the original shopping centre was completed in April 1973 . Back then there were 110 retailers , a figure which has burgeoned to the current day 300 tenants .
As part of the tour , the guests learned about the state-of-the-art security surveillance , transport connections and the retailers , after which all adjourned to Nadia ’ s Café food and beverages which soothed the not-so savage beasts .
But a visit to the cafe was old hat to Bill and Alan who had been among Nadia ’ s first customers when the cafe opened for business 30 years ago .
“ We had a wonderful time tripping down Memory Lane and Bill and I can ’ t thank Craig and his fantastic staff enough for their efforts in making us so welcome ,” Alan said .
But the birthday celebrations continue , commencing on April 1 and running throughout the month .
Craig and his birthday project team – Christine Martin , Natalie Jones , Stephanie Fussell and Natalie El Hakim , have put together a wonderful program through which customers of all ages can also celebrate the occasion .
From Saturday , April 1 , Westpoint is looking back on some of their customers ’ favourite stories , sharing a display of historical photographs and throwing one big birthday party .
“ On the first day of the month , between 11am-3pm , we ’ re inviting the community to come and join the birthday celebrations with free family fun , including giveaways , kids craft activities , face painting and entertainment ,” said the complex ’ s marketing manager , Christine Martin .
“ Throughout the month , the community can visit the special display of Westpoint ’ s history .
“ There are fun photos of Westpoint through time featuring old retailers , special events held at the centre and fabulous musical performances .
“ The exhibition will pay tribute to the funky 70 ’ s style and will be on display from April 1-30 across four locations – Level I Centre Court , Level 1 near Woolworths , Level 3 next to Factories and Level 3 next to Platypus .”
They ’ ve got their cake , and they did get to eat it too ! Kicking off Westpoint Blacktown ’ s 50th birthday celebrations was a guided tour of the complex for developer and builder , Bill McNamara ( r ), and Alan Watton , one of the centre ’ s first general managers .
But wait , there ’ s more !
During the April school holidays from Tuesdays through to Saturdays , kids can head back in time to the 70 ’ s with free kids craft activities , and during the entire month , there will be free old-school arcade games to play on Level 2 , near Best & Less .
Now , that ’ s what we call a birthday celebration !
BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 25 // APRIL 2023 11