The design of the middle block between Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets had, meanwhile, been held up by a number of considerations, partially connected to the railway. It was not clear if the concourse of the railway station would extend beyond the eastern side of Elizabeth Street. Secondly, it was a condition of consent for the MLC Centre, then under construction, that a subway be built under Castlereagh Street to connect the building to the station. Thirdly, the lessee of the old basements of the aborted State Savings Building, Prudential Insurance Company, were reluctant to surrender their lease to Council "The architects were trying to bring all these issues together so that the MLC tunnel under Castlereagh Street would connect into a naturally lit shopping arcade in the basements and then join under Elizabeth Street to the railway concourse. If this was realised there would be an undercover connection from the amphitheatre on the western side of Castlereagh Street to the railway concourse".Gazzard, 1988: 89
