WORLD’S TALLEST TOWER ON THE COAST’
Zarro’s arrow was said to be no “pie in the sky” in 1984 but the project never got off the ground
“WE want to build the world’s tallest building in Surfers Paradise.”
That was the message Gold Coasters woke up to on November 28, 1984 when the company behind Australia Fair announced plans for a 170-storey tower on the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin.
It is a project that made headlines, but never got built, suffering the same fate which has befallen plenty of projects proposed over the decades.
Tough economic times and other factors have seen ambitious proposals consigned to history before a single shovel goes into the ground.
Just this week the Gold Coast witnessed the collapse of prolific developer Ralan Group, which was behind the Ruby Collection.
While one tower of the Surfers Paradise resort was completed, hopes of a four highrise complex are now dashed.
It was a similar story 25 years ago as Witan Investments proposed its supertower.
Plans for the building, which became known as the “Zarro arrow” after Witan boss Pat Zarro, were lodged with the council just weeks before Christmas.
Witan was fresh off the success of its Scarborough Fair complex, the forerunner to the modern Australia Fair and keen for a new challenge.
Mr Zarro held a press conference in Ferny Ave and insisted the tower was no “pie in the sky” proposal, despite being four times the size of Surfers Paradise’s Golden Gate building.
The $100 million tower was earmarked for the corner of the Gold Coast Hwy and Hamilton Ave – a site occupied by St Vincent’s Catholic Church.
The tower was to house the world’s highest revolving restaurant, with the peak topping out at 445m above ground level on a concrete pier base set in existing rock 42m below the ground.
It was predicted that a million visitors a year were set to go to the top of the Surfers tower, which was tipped to have a lift that could travel to the top in just 60 seconds.
“This is how we hope to get some money back – by charging visitors to reach for the sky,” Mr Zarro told the Bulletin.
“We are conservative about attracting a million visitors a year because last Christmas season alone, Sea World attracted 800,000 people and the Paradise Centre’s official count exceeded one million.”
Mayor Denis O’Connell said he was thrilled about the developers agreeing to provide 10,000sq m of ground floor space for an Australian Sporting Hall of Fame.
“We already have a Gold Coast committee formed for this and it will now get off the ground,” he said.
“This tower will bring the idea to fruition.”
It was expected to take 18 months to build, with a start date of 1986 pitched.
The State Government intervened in 1985 to rezone the site and take it out of council’s hands.
By 1988 contractual problems had delayed construction, by which time its cost had risen to $280 million and its height to 195 storeys.
In 1990 Mr Zarro put the site up for sale amid denials of financial trouble.
The Witan Group collapsed in 1992 with debts of $401 million.