Reid's (Cribb & Foote) Fire (1985)

The Brisbane and Bell Street corner was once home to the iconic Cribb & Foote Department Store.  When the new store opened in 1912, it boasted innovative features such as electricity (supplied by the company's own on-site powerhouse), a pneumatic tube system for moving paperwork around the store, and, in a first for Ipswich, a six-person lift.  The department store continued to expand, with additions added along Bell Street.

In 1977, the store was rebranded Reid's Department Store, after Rockhampton based Walter Reid & Co. acquired a 91% share of the business.

The buildings were purchased by the Kern Corporation on 6th August 1985, as part of their plans to redevelop the Ipswich CBD.  

Eleven days later, in the early hours of the 17th August, Ipswich awoke to a tragic sight.  A significant fire had gutted the building.  Most of the Bell Street façade had crumbled into the street, bricks and mortar cracking and giving way in the intensity of the flames.  The Brisbane Street façade remained mostly standing, although the entire interior was gutted. 

As the town gathered to pay their respects to the iconic building and businesses, the site was cleared over coming days.  Rubble was taken to the Chubb Street, Leichhardt, Softball grounds, used as a base for the courts (along with the demolition rubble from the North Star Hotel was also used).

Ipswich City Council was in the process of relocating to South Street, leaving the former Town Hall (now Ipswich Art Gallery) free.  Reid's reopened by Christmas 1985 in the Town Hall.  With a reduced floor area, and the company being taken over by Ariadne in 1986, Reid's could not regain momentum, closing its doors in Ipswich in 1987, in time for the opening of Ipswich City Square and the Nicholas Street Mall, which featured the McDonnell & East department store.

The corner site would be cleared once more in 2011, when Ipswich City Square was replaced by ICON Ipswich, opening in 2013.