Church was laid on Saturday 30 November 1878 by Queensland Governor Arthur Kennedy. After delays in construction due to insufficient money, the new church was officially opened and dedicated on Wednesday 6 June 1883 by Bishop Matthew Hale assisted by Archdeacon Benjamin Glennie with over 500 people present. St Thomas' church then closed. In 1884, the railway to the south was opened with a terminus at South Brisbane. As a result, South Brisbane experienced a construction boom. In 1888, South Brisbane became an independent municipality, initially as the Borough of South Brisbane and then becoming the City of South Brisbane in 1903. In 1925 the City of South Brisbane was amalgamated into the City of Greater Brisbane. By the 1880s, the Presbyterian church in Grey Street had grown too small for its congregation. In October 1884 a foundation stone for a new church was laid. On 11 October 1885 the new Park Presbyterian Church was opened at 31 Glenelg Street on the corner of Cordelia Street () by Robert Steel, senior member of the Presbyterian Church in Sydney. The name Park reflects the location of the church directly opposite Musgrave Park. It was designed by architect FDG Stanley and could accommodate 550 seated in the church and 300 seated in the Sunday school in the basement. Over time the area became increasingly used for industrial and commercial purposes and families moved away to more residential areas. The congregation sold the church in early 1950 in order to build a new Park Presbyterian Church in the more residential location of 21 Hampstead Road, Highgate Hill. The church at Glenelg Street was used by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church for some years, then for commercial purposes, and as at 2020 by the iSee Church (Pentecostal). Similarly St Mary's Catholic Church became too small for its congregation. From 1884 to 1889 the Catholic Church had acquired more land adjoining St Mary's Catholic, eventually owning all of the northern end of the block bounded by Cordelia, Peel and Merivale Streets, enabling it to raise funds for a new St Mary's church in 1890. Architects George Simkin and John Ibler prepared designs for a cruciform church with Italianate and Romanesque Revival features able to seat 800 people. The foundation stone was laid by Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran on 25 September 1892. When the second St Mary's Church () was blessed and opened by Archbishop Robert