Since then more than 71 million of them have walked through the doors.

The centre is this week celebrating the 21^st anniversary milestone with birthday celebrations aimed at thanking everyone involved in its development and growth over those years since 1998.

"We're so proud of the continued connection with our retailers, contractors, customers, and community because we've grown with them," said centre manager, Colleen Mulholland-Ruiz.

"MarketPlace played a pivotal role in transforming the town, bringing around 15,000 square metres of retail space, 42 shops and services and $36 million worth of investment when it opened."

Constructed over ten months, with an average of 135 construction workers on site per day, MarketPlace was originally designed by Leffler Simes Architects and owned by Fabcot, a Woolworths Company.

In April 1999, family-owned company Goodwin and Kenyon Group purchased the centre and continues to proudly own and manage it to this day.

The centre has seen plenty of changes over the years.

In 2010 it underwent a refurbishment to give it a fresh look and meet evolving customer demands.

One of those was the addition of the lift from the carpark to the retail stores. There was also a new logo and branding.

"The team spent weeks looking into the history of the town and surrounding area and speaking with locals to find out what MarketPlace meant to them," said Mrs Mulholland-Ruiz.

"It was from those conversations with the community that the centre's tagline was developed - 'Love this place'.

"These words were spoken by many when describing MarketPlace and what it meant to them.

"It was very humbling and so it was decided to make that part of the logo, people saying how much they loved this place."

The new logo reflected local features - the markings of the river and the green of the surrounding countryside.

"The river painting is the Williams River and the green represents the farmland, the logo represents the peaks of an historic marketplace and the individual elements are grains from the local area," Mrs Mulholland-Ruiz said.

To mark the occasion, the centre is sharing images of its 21-year history through Facebook as well as with display boards that let its customers take a walk down memory lane.

"It's really fascinating to have a look back," said Mrs Mulholland-Ruiz.

"Over the 21 years the centre has become not just a shopping centre - it's become a place to meet, a place for school holiday entertainment and a place to win great giveaways.

"The management team and retailers have formed friendships with the community and people have formed friendships with other people they've met visiting here.

"The development of these connections shows MarketPlace is more than a place to shop. It's the heart of the community."

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