UPDATE:
The star on top of the Miranda shopping complex will be gone within days.
A Westfield spokeswoman said, ‘‘the star, which is a customised feature of the office tower will be removed in the coming week as part of that building’s demolition.
‘‘The safest way to remove the star is to dismantle it on top of the building.’’
Star to go
WESTFIELD has ruled out any last-minute reprieve for the big red star atop the Miranda shopping complex despite continuing pleas for it to be saved.
"No, we have had to make a decision, and unfortunately it will have to come down," a spokeswoman said yesterday.
"It is no longer operating." [The star used to slowly rotate].
The company has said it is working on ways to incorporate the symbolism of the star into the new centre.
There was better news for residents, who expressed concerns on the Leader website about the big fig tree at the front of the centre.
It was being preserved, and would be incorporated into the redevelopment, the spokeswoman said.
Gymea Bay resident Michelle Chabi said, while she was looking forward to what the $435 million redevelopment would bring, she hoped Westfield would heed community feeling about the star.
"It's part of the shire's landscape," she said.
"That and the Kurnell sandhills are what I remember from when I was a kid, and they have gone, too."
The star appears to have been "born" in 1971 during the first major redevelopment of what was then called Miranda Fair.
It does not appear in photos of the original centre, which Farmer & Co opened in 1964, before selling to Westfield five years later.
However, it appeared prominently in a 50-page advertising supplement in the Leader on September 15, 1971, to mark the completion of the redevelopment.
The second major redevelopment, which was opened in 1992, saw the centre spread across Kiora Road.
Should the star stay or go?
See what other readers think and a related story: http://www.theleader.com.au/story/1649229/westfield-star-to-go-in-redevelopment/?cs=1507
