When it opened on a foggy winter's morning in 1998, the Marketplace Gungahlin was the sole building in amongst paddocks that would, bit by bit, be taken over by the town centre.
Liz Toussaint was one of the original retailers in the Marketplace Gungahlin.
She opened her florist's Poetry in Flowers on that day 25 years ago, Gungahlin residents excited by finally having somewhere local to shop. And a quarter of a century later, Liz still owns the business, which is now managed by her niece.
Liz remembers well going to work at the shopping centre, surreally located in the middle of desolate paddocks.
"When we were standing in our shop, you could hear the sheep bleating," she said, with a laugh.
"It was bizarre."
Her niece Skye remembers there were very few houses in the area back in 1998 and the car parks for the centre were "unsealed and muddy".
The Marketplace Gungahlin was opened by then chief minister Kate Carnell on August 9, 1998, with 25 stores including a Woolworths supermarket.
Almost 25 years to the day, a new $60 million expansion of the shopping centre is due to open on August 17, with the new area, above the Kmart mall, to including everything from an Aldi supermarket to Sushi Hub.
But 25 years ago, for the original retailers, there was a sense of blazing a new trail in the brand-new suburbs of Gungahlin.
Liz Toussaint used to sell flowers at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston with her niece Skye before she decided to take the leap to a bricks and mortar store in the marketplace.
"They were calling for expressions of interest, so we thought that going in on the ground floor, with that new development, would be a good idea," she said.
"So, I was working at the Australian Industry Group as an economist and I then transitioned to that. I was living in Bungendore and my then partner had a wholesale nursery, so that link between a grower and a retailer worked really well. He maintained the wholesale business and I did the retail business."
Liz remembers a lot of excitement with the opening of the marketplace.
"Gungahlin people just had nothing out there, really," she said.
"So, it was a really big moment to have services in their area, finally."
Liz's brother David came over from Western Australia to add some manpower for the opening days' rush.
"We just opened up. We had no idea what we were doing, thinking back. But we just had lots of plants, lots of flowers and we were just really busy."
She has stayed in the business for 25 years as others changed hands, moved or closed. Being a florist, she was part of the big milestones in people's lives, far beyond opening day.
"I did really enjoy the community out there," she said.
"You met a lot of people and just saw their families grow.
"One of the girls I took on as a part-time worker, for example, I remember seeing her being pushed around as a child in a trolley with I think her grandmother or aunt. So just seeing the full circle of people over that time period was really lovely.
Liz has also gone full circle, back to her economist roots, working in housing policy with Treasury as niece Skye looks to eventually take over the florist's.
She says it's hard to believe 25 years has passed.
"I look back at that and it was just so long ago and I think about all the people I started with," she said.
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