In 1963 the Wollongong Teachers College was established. In 1965 the Westfield shopping centre at Figtree opened.
In 1985 the railway line was electrified to Wollongong, and in 1993 to Dapto. In 1986 the Wollongong Mall was completed. For a short while trams (trackless trains) were used in the mall, though this ceased due to dangers involved. The mall was re-opened to traffic after the initial test but re-zoned a pedestrian area after and has remained one since.
gallery site. The Crown Gateway Shopping Centre was completed. Wollongong Mall was opened. In 1988 the current council administration building was completed, as well as the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC), across the road on Burelli Street. IPAC was officially opened by Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1988. A sculpture recognising Lawrence Hargrave was placed via a helicopter on the eastern foothills of Mount Keira. In 1998 the 6000 seat Wollongong Entertainment Centre was opened.
In 1999 the Gateway and Crown Central mall buildings were unified as Wollongong Central and a pedestrian walkway/cafe was built connecting the buildings in an above ground bridge. In 2000, as part of the Sydney Olympics, the Olympic torch was carried through Wollongong as part of its journey. In 2001 the population of Wollongong reached 181,612 people. In 2004 the Wollongong City Gallery celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 2005 Qantas established a daily air service from Wollongong to Melbourne that lasted till 2008.
In 2006/2007 the library was renovated, including new facilities, as part of the tenth anniversary of the library's current site. Also at this time the beachfront was renovated with a new lookout and walkway upgrade. In June 2007 erosion was caused via storms to the beaches, the worst in 30 years.
Despite the decline of traditional manufacturing and blue-collar industries due to the abandonment of protectionist economic policies in the 1980s, many of these industrial
