It is a reminder of Redcliffe's past as a popular Queensland seaside holiday resort, and its lively wartime history.

Long surf beaches were not highly valued in the Victorian period, and the ideal resort consisted of a coastline of picturesque headlands with small coves and inlets offering safe swimming in smooth water.

In the 1880s agricultural portions on the peninsula were subdivided and sold as residential estates, for the building of "Marine Residences", and the area's identity as a seaside resort solidified in that decade.

In 1921, when the Town of Redcliffe was declared, its permanent population was only 1,631, and it contained 432 private dwellings, six Hotels, and 28 boarding houses.

[1] Although Redcliffe had become a residential suburb, it continued to act as a holiday destination - at least until the spread of motor vehicle ownership, and the appeal of surf beaches on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, lured away Brisbane holidaymakers during the 1950s.

Public bathing pavilions were opened at Suttons Beach, Margate, Woody Point and Redcliffe jetty in 1937, and a koala sanctuary and zoo was established next to the Country Women's Association hall that same year.

The Redcliffe Rollerdrome (a skating rink) was established in 1938, and Frost's private aviary and zoo opened in Joseph Street around 1939.

[1] One businessman who saw potential in Redcliffe during the pre-World War II period was Athanasi (Arthur) Stavrou Comino, born on the Greek island of Kythera in 1880.

Two more brothers arrived in 1908, but in 1912 Arthur and Peter, who were still listed as Greek Army reservists, left to fight in the First Balkan War.

In September 1938 he purchased 1 rood 24 perches (1,600 m2) of land on the site of the present Comino's Arcade, which at that time included the Moreton Vista boarding house.

Arthur planned to move the boarding house back from the street, and then build some shops with living quarters for the family above.

[1] By the start of World War II over 10,000 Greeks had settled in Australia and the Kytherians, who by then constituted about 22% of the total, remained by far the dominant regional group.

The largest group of pre-World War II Queensland Greeks were also from Kythera, the most significant being the Comino, Coronis and Freeleagus families.

Other main occupations before 1920 included drapers and tailors, farmers, tradesmen, taxi drivers, cane cutters, fruit wholesalers, and travelling "picture show men".

[1] During the 1910s changes in cafe design occurred which produced the layout common from the 1920s to the 1960s: at the front was a display window, then a refrigerated milk bar, with pantry and confectionery counter, and then a dining room, with a kitchen at the rear.

[1] Throughout World War II many cafes were forced to close or drastically curtail their business due to rationing, quotas, and loss of staff into the armed services.

They were present as part of the defence of Moreton Bay and the Brisbane region, which was an important supply and staging area for the Allied war effort against the Japanese.

Seabrae Guesthouse, opposite the site of Luna Park, was used by Australian Military Intelligence as a training school from September 1942, and after June 1943 it was used by United States Navy submariners on Rest and Recreation.

[1] During the war other facilities in the area around Redcliffe included an army camp and three airstrips at Strathpine, Australian machine gunners at Deception Bay, United States and Australian troops on Bribie and Moreton Islands and at Caloundra, and amphibious warfare training facilities at Toorbul Point.

[1] The Australian Comforts Fund was set up January 1940 for people serving in the military, and in 1941 its focus shifted from cakes and knitting for the troops to entertainment.

From February 1942 National Security Regulations restricted civilian building, although it was possible to get a permit if construction was linked to the war effort.

Commenting on the design, the Redcliffe Herald noted that the bridge and port holes imparted a marine appearance to a building which was much suitable for a seaside resort.

The provision of holiday accommodation was consistent with Redcliffe's history as a seaside resort, and the building was effectively a combination of a boarding house, an arcade, and a Greek cafe with an associated ballroom.

The arcade's extension through to Sutton Street, designed by Colin Tannett and erected by local builder Jim Fortune, was finished in 1968 and was officially opened by the Post-Master General, the Federal Member for Petrie, Alan Hulme.

The Redcliffe Parade facade steps up at parapet level to conceal the hipped roof of the ballroom space beyond which is clad in "super-6" profiled fibre-cement sheeting.

[1] The arcade provides public passage through the building on ground level and internal facades are symmetrical in layout with full-height glazing to the shopfronts.

Some of the building's features, uncommon in its time - such as its stark face brick street elevation, its undecorated parapet, and its cantilevered concrete window shades - were to become standard in the 1950s and 1960s.