Around 1879 he emigrated to Australia, initially lodging in Melbourne, then moving briefly to Queanbeyan, New South Wales, where he gained practical experience as a grocer in his uncle's store.

These included a contract to clear Spence and Bunda Streets in Cairns in 1886, and in 1888 establishing the Camp Oven Creek Hotel at Barron Gorge during the building of the Cairns-to-Herberton railway line.

He also held a selection on the Russell River, north of Innisfail, and was reputed to have spent time tin-mining at Bloomfield and working on the construction of the Cape York telegraph line.

[2] In 1893 Michael Boland, like many people at the time, struggled to keep his business viable in the face of a world recession and the temporary closure of the National Bank of Queensland.

Conditions were made more difficult in Cairns by the onset of the so-called "store wars", an intense competitive struggle between five key merchant firms: Michael Boland, Burns Philp & Co., G.R.

[2] From these small beginnings Michael Boland gradually emerged as a pioneer of commerce in Cairns and built up an extensive business empire, which included investments in mining and the Cumming Brothers Butchery.

Until the link to the state railway system was made in the early 1920s, Cairns remained a relatively isolated community accessed primarily by sea, and the Boland firm was instrumental in satisfying many of its material needs.

He was a high-profile supporter of worker's rights, the Labour Party and early unionism, and also had some association with the local Chinese community, in 1904 giving money to help effect repairs to one of the temples and acting as the receiver for the firm of Sun Shun Lee during its liquidation.

When completed the upgrade permitted Boland to begin the process of transforming his business from a simple general store into a large emporium with separate grocery, haberdashery and hardware departments.

Then in 1911 he commissioned Cairns architect Edward Gregory Waters to draw up plans for a new building to be built on the site of the swamp at the vacant corner of Lake and Spence Streets.

Due to its strength and insulating qualities, concrete construction proved highly suitable to the tropical climate and cyclonic conditions experienced in North Queensland and in later decades dominated its building industry.

The swamp at the site was drained and filled but due to the unstable nature of the ground the building sat on a floating foundation laid with girders rather than traditional piles.

The bullnose corrugated iron awning of the 1902 emporium was extended along both street frontages of the new building and repeated the earlier paired columns, pierced frieze and other decorative elements.

[2] The ongoing success of firm was marked in 1915 when the Articles of Association of Bolands Limited were filed at the office of the Register of Joint Stock Companies and a branch store in Babinda was opened.

Under their direction the firm continued to grow and by Cairns' jubilee in 1926 the store at Spence and Lake Streets boasted 15 departments and buying offices in London, New York, Kobe and all the Australian states.

The facade incorporated lineal motifs, large rosettes and starburst medallions, and three glass doors opening onto small concrete balconies with ornamental iron railings.

Until the Cairns City Council put in new drainage, the Lake and Spence Street corner was subject to flooding in the wet season, and in the 1930s and 1955 the ground floor was inundated.

In 1924 three large windows on the Spence Street side of the main store building were mysteriously smashed, reputedly by lightning, and in 1951 a fire broke out on the top floor, damaging the ceiling and wooden partitions.

In 1967 David Jones installed a cafeteria, milk bar and small goods section on the ground floor and the largest chilled water air-conditioning plant in North Queensland.

During the 1970s and early 1980s the Bolands Building had steadily become redundant as the Cairns central business district, along with other Australian centres, suffered the effects of a nationwide drift of retailing activity to the suburbs.

The redevelopment was lauded as a landmark example of adaptive re-use of an historic building and emerged as a key event that stimulated the revival of the Cairns central business district during the late 1980s and 1990s.

Historically the centre has been associated with a number of other buildings on adjoining allotments that together formed an extensive department store established by the Cairns merchant, Michael Boland.

The facade is asymmetrical, with the top two stories tied together by a blind arcade incorporating Romanesque arches with exaggerated keystones and pilasters surmounted by composite capitals.

The Lake and Spence Street corner of the building is pierced by a single rectangular window which is blocked out with a panel that supports an illuminated sign reading: "Bolands Centre".

The awning is a flat-roofed cantilevered type supported above by tubular metal braces fixed to the facade, and incorporating non-structural; singly arranged, fluted, iron columns ornamented with Corinthian capitals and cast-iron fringe.

The main entrance foyer on Spence Street still retains early black and white floor tiling and has some white-painted wood arching, elaborate plaster cornices and ceiling mouldings.

Its size and ornate detailing reflect the social aspirations and entrepreneurial strategies of the business elite who built such stores, while the surviving internal elements, particularly the undeveloped top floor and elevator, demonstrate the layout, design principles and technology employed.

The Bolands Centre is also associated with work of Edward Gregory Waters, a prominent Cairns architect who designed the building and was responsible for a number of important structures within the city.

The facade is of cast concrete executed in an ornate style, based an eclectic mix of Classical and other design elements, which projects an imposing, elegant presence on the streetscape.

The place has social significance as an iconic landmark due to its size, aesthetic appeal and longevity within the streetscape of Cairns, and the role it has played in the business life of Far North Queensland.