10 wackiest projects ever pitched
It might surprise you, but none were built
THE Gold Coast is a city constantly looking out for new tourist attractions.
It’s no surprise given that tourism is our biggest industry and was worth more than $6bn before the Covid-19 pandemic.
While many theme parks and novelties have been built in the past 60 years, plenty more were proposed but never eventuated.
Here are 10 of the most memorable developments and tourist attractions ever proposed for the Gold Coast.
THE ICON GEYSER
In February 2012, Gold Coast teacher Bill Ross proposed the world’s largest offshore water jet.
It was expected to be built 300m off Surfers Paradise and shoot water more than 150m into the air.
The geyser was conceived as a clock of sorts that would grow in size for short periods every 15 minutes, reaching its maximum height on the hour.
It was expected to cost $15m and had the backing of thenmayor Ron Clarke.
However, in 2014 the Gold Coast City Council chose not to investigate it further.
POLYNESIAN FOLK WORLD
Dreamworld bosses hoped to capture lightning in a bottle twice less than five years after the theme park opened.
Plans were unveiled in February 1986 for a $12m Polynesian-style entertainment and commercial development earmarked for a 1.6ha site on the Nerang River off Southport’s Brighton Parade.
The two-storey complex was to house two licensed restaurants, bars, a nightclub, specialty shops, offices, marina, and manager’s residence.
It was to have a South Sea island theme.
Locals opposed the project and it failed to gain the support of either the state government or council.
THE BIG CLUBBIE OF WAVEBREAK ISLAND
The Big Clubbie of Wavebreak Island was one of the more bizarre ideas the city has seen.
The $180m, 109-metre colossus would include a recreation of Uluru, measuring 200m long, 140m wide and 55m tall.
On top would be a 54mhigh bronze surf lifesaver planned to revolve three times a day and act as a barometer by way of his lifesaver’s cap and briefs.
Inside the lifesaver’s reel was to be the Reel Restaurant.
The rock structure was to be 15 storeys high and house a 6000-seat amphitheatre, a 500-room hotel, a recreated rainforest with revolving barges over a coral reef floor and a casino or conference room with restraints, shops, museum and observatory.
THE BIG BIKINI GIRL
Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce boss and perpetual mayoral candidate Brian Shepherd was never short of an idea. But in the late 1980s he announced plans to build the world’s tallest bikini girl statue.
Like the colossus of Rhodes, it was meant to stand across the Gold Coast Hwy, with motorists to drive underneath it on their way into Surfers Paradise.
Understandably the Gold Coast City Council under then-mayor Lex Bell was not keen to proceed.
DISNEYLAND GOLD COAST
Gold Coast-based Sport Minister Mick Vievers visited Disneyland in late 1997 with former Expo chairman Sir Llew Edwards, fuelling speculation the government was negotiating a deal with Disney Corporation to set up shop in Queensland.
Ultimately, Premier Peter Beattie wasn’t willing to throw more money at the project and it never went ahead.
EVANDALE ISLAND
In 2009 the council commissioned a design competition to create a new-look Evandale.
The winning design was the Island of Culture which was to sit in the middle of the Nerang River. It was to connect by pedestrian bridges on three sides to Evandale, Surfers Paradise and Chevron Island.
It would include the mayoral chambers, performing and visual arts facilities, some council staff offices, restaurants and public spaces.
Its perimeter was to be wrapped in a luminous “scalloped glaze curtain”.
Evandale would have had its existing buildings demolished and replaced by parkland, paths and trees.
DIVE!
Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg submitted plans to build a submarinethemed restaurant on the Gold Coast in early 1999.
The Dive! chain of restaurants was to be part of a $12m redevelopment of the Paradise Centre. Council approved the project in March 1999, just as the original Los Angeles restaurant closed, but it stalled.
COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS
In 2008 the council eyed off a $1.35b redevelopment of the
Bruce Bishop Carpark site to create a new headquarters.
Led by mayor Ron Clarke, the council considered a plan by a Sydney developer to create the city’s first “iconic civic headquarters”, reminiscent of China’s “bold designs”.
The “town hall”, dubbed “GC4200”, was put forward by Winten Property Group.
The unusually shaped building was to include a council chamber and administration, full council fit-out, a transit centre with retail and food outlets, an arts and culture centre, 500 carparks and office space.
Once the financial crisis hit, the project was scrapped.
ZARRO’S ARROW
Developer Pat Zarro unveiled plans for the world’s tallest building in late 1984.
The $100m, 170-storey tower was earmarked for a site on the corner of the Gold Coast Hwy and Hamilton Ave.
It 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. In 1990, Zarro put the site up for sale.
SKYLINQ
In early 2014 Skylinq, a company which claimed to have Uk-based backers, unveiled plans for a $220m, 24km-long cableway to run between Southport and Sanctuary Cove, via The Spit.
It ambitiously hoped to get the project built before the 2018 Commonwealth Games and submitted the plans to the state government. However, the idea never progressed.