Downing Centre, Sydney

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Downing Centre, Sydney, view from Hyde Park.

Museum Station entrance at the Downing Centre, Castlereagh Street

Museum Station subway from the Downing Centre entrance

The Downing Centre is a major court house complex in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It features Local Courts, New South Wales District Courts and a law library known as the Downing Centre Library.

The Downing Centre is located in the Sydney central business district, on Liverpool Street between Elizabeth Street and Castlereagh Street. It sits opposite the south-west corner of Hyde Park and Museum railway station. a subway links the Downing Centre directly to Museum Station from an entrance on Castlereagh Street.

[edit] History

The Downing Centre was originally the site of the iconic Mark Foys department store. Mark Foys traded here from 1909 until 1980, when the retail area was referred to as 'The Piazza'. The Grace Brothers department store then traded at this site for some time, before the building fell into disuse. It was acquired by the New South Wales Justice Department and converted into a legal facility.