Barrack St is at the very heart of the Perth CBD. Buses come up from the Esplanade station, and travel north until it  transforms into Beaufort St. They then turn off into other suburbs at various points. Many, many times as a kid I caught the 53 bus there to my home in Dianella. That particular route seems to have disappeared, unfortunately. Still, many of the other buses that I recall such as the 21, 60, the 67 and others are still going strong. It sounds a tad sentimental to say this, but it's quite comforting to see that kind of continuity.

Needless to say Barrack St is far busier than thirty years ago. And the street is dominated by other huge building sites. There is this massive structure occupying much of the block between Hay St and Murray St. Here it's shown at a distance, from Murray St Mall.



And the shot below shows it from Barrack St itself, right near the corner of Murray St. The blue section in the photo is part of the structure that housed the Greater Union cinema complex, which had its entrance on Murray St.



Sadly, that venue is now history, as is Hoyts Cinema City, which was further south up on Hay St, just opposite the Perth Town Hall (which still stands, of course). Cinema City was by far the most opulent new film venue in its day. But that's been completely torn down to make way for another immense new project.

There are still a lot of shops operating on Barrack St, though. I assume that that they will remain. One location of historical value is Bon March Arcade. That was built back in 1901. The shot below shows this quaint little building, dwarfed by the two new constructions mentioned above.