Our Space

Stiebel Prayer House

Stiebel Prayer House is situated at 7A Station Street, Frankston.

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The building where the House of Prayer is situated has a fascinating history. It was originally called The Heart of Frankston Shopping Centre.​

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​​Many local celebrities, including Graham Kennedy AO (who was also a Frankston resident) and Bert Newton AM MBE, graced the two-day event, a momentous occasion for the entire community. Pratt called his new project The Heart of Frankston Shopping Centre.
This included The Heart Arcade (which is off Wells Street). Bill Pratt was a regular guest on Channel Nine’s IMT, spruiking his new supermarket.

The Frankston Standard newspaper devoted an entire edition to the opening of this new venture on September 29, 1961. They described the opening as ‘A great day for Frankston’.

The Heart of Frankston logo above, is from that edition of the Frankston Standard. It would eventually become Australia’s first Safeway, serving as a template for Safeway stores nationwide. Bill Pratt was appointed CEO and led Safeway in Australia for many years, eventually launching over 187 supermarkets Australia-wide under the banner of The Fresh Food People. Eventually becoming Woolworths.

Bill Pratt was quite the visionary, and this site had many ‘firsts'. The supermarket boasted a rooftop car park (which is still there), complete with a conveyor system for transporting customers’ purchases to the rooftop park where staff placed them in the boot of the shopper's car. The Heart Arcade housed a Cafeteria where customers could get a meal or coffee before or after their purchases at the new centre.

 

The best thing since sliced bread

The Heart of Frankston Supermarket sold sliced bread for the first time in our nation (bread was previously only available in bakeries - unsliced).

Milk was also introduced in a carton (once again - previously available only in bottles in milk bars), and the meat was pre-wrapped in plastic trays and sold in a  grocery store for the first time. Fruit and vegetables were also introduced alongside packaged and tinned groceries.

Bill Pratt also eventually pioneered the use of barcodes in retail Australia, against much opposition. Today barcodes are used in most retail settings.

Many other things we take for granted today in our shopping experience find their roots in the Pratt, Heart of Frankston Shopping Centre!

Pratt was also part of a team of local businessmen who established Peninsula Grammar School in Mt Eliza, and he also was part of the team that founded the Spastic Society (later renamed Scope).

Bill Pratt was an early president of the local Rotary Club and a prominent member of the Frankston Community for many years.

This site, which today is The Frankston Life Community HUB is still the Heart of Frankston - with a Heart for Frankston..

It stands today as a testament to Bill Pratt’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit in our city and speaks to Frankston being a City of Firsts - where many things got their start.

We honour Bill Pratt's heritage and remember him as a true innovator in our city.

In 2008, Bill was proudly inducted into Frankston City’s Hall of Fame — a fitting tribute to his outstanding achievements and the lasting impact he’s had on generations of Australians. He died in 1995.

 

Today, part of the old Heart of Frankston building is Steibel Prayer House; it is still the Heart of our City, and we believe this designation is a prophetic declaration over our building.