Photos | Miranda Fair was the best when it opened 60 years ago

The £3 1/4 million ($6.5 million) Myer-Farmer's development was the largest fully enclosed shopping centre in NSW when it opened on March 16, 1964.

Roselands upstaged it a year later.

Premier Bob Heffron told the 1600 guests at the opening of Miranda Fair he had not seen anything to match the centre in Australia or overseas.

More than 10,000 people flocked to the centre to see the shops and watch a fireworks display.

Singer Little Pattie had to be carried shoulder high through the thousands of fans to perform with Col Joye, and the 2SM Good Guys conducted quizzes and gave away packets of cigarettes and rubber-tipped pencils.

The centre included a Farmer's department store on three levels, a Woolworths supermarket, 18 specialty shops, parking for 1100 cars, library, child minding centre and playground. In 1969, Westfield bought it for $10 million and enlarged it.

Miranda Fair was built on the site of the former Fowler's brick pit, which had become rat infested.

Sutherland Shire president Keith Bates said the quarry had become both a swimming hole for the district's youth and an eyesore.

The Leader reported: "Only 17 months ago this site was an old quarry in paddocks covered with weeds and long grass, and Miranda itself was a quiet little shopping centre.

"Today, Miranda is buzzing with the business that this huge development has brought, and more than 1100 people have found employment where not so long ago frogs croaked in the quarry."

Miranda Fair underwent its first major expansion after it was bought by Westfield in 1969.

When the redevelopment was completed in 1971, the shopping centre had trebled in floor space and was bigger than Roselands.

Coinciding with the project, a new four lane bridge was built on Wandella Road over the railway line, providing another connection between Kingsway and President Avenue.

The Leader produced a 50-page supplement to "celebrate Miranda Fair's conversion into a mighty Westfield Shoppingtown".

"Two major department stores and more than 70 other retail establishments make the new Fair the largest centre of its kind in Australia," the Leader reported.

The expanded centre included Grace Bros, a Woolworths Family Centre, hardware giant Nock & Kirby's and pharmacists Washington Soul Pattinson.

A feature of Grace Bros was "a sophisticated restaurant" and two coffee shops.

The Terrace Room on the top floor of Grace Bros, which enjoyed panoramic views to the City, was a popular self-serve restaurant.

The adjoining Miranda Room catered for wedding receptions, parties, conferences and informal gatherings at night.