Sunshine Coast abandoned projects revealed from chairlifts to Hollywood 2.0
From mountain chairlifts to a hovercraft service between Brisbane and Coolum, check out the list of projects on the Sunshine Coast that never quite got off the ground.
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From hovercraft services, controversial zip lines to a giant dam, the Sunshine Coast has seen its fair share of spectacular projects proposed in the region.
While there have been many successful and upcoming projects today – from surf parks to a high-speed submarine cable – there have been many ideas, project proposals and thriving businesses that have fallen by the wayside.
Queensland senior historian Ray Kerkhove said there have been some “crazy projects” in the past, but hardly a trace of them today.
The Sunshine Coast Daily has dug up more than 10 failed or forgotten ideas, proposals and beloved businesses, beginning with a project that would have allowed people to climb a mountain without breaking a sweat.
Mount Coolum chairlift
In 1986, there was a proposal to build a chairlift to the top of Mount Coolum, but this idea was strongly objected to by the Sunshine Coast community.
Mt Coolum Residents Association former president Francis Anderson helped fight the proposed idea.
Australia’s biggest DFO
Cube Developments director Scott Juniper planned to open a direct factory outlet with hundreds of stores in the Glass House Mountains about 15 years ago.
He said the local council didn’t allow it to go ahead because it didn’t want the outlet complex away from existing shopping centres.
Mr Juniper said he had planned for it to be the biggest DFO in the country, costing more than $100m.
“It was massive,” Mr Juniper said.
Sugar mill theme park
The Moreton Central Sugar Mill was an old sugar milling facility in Nambour, which had sugar trains and hundreds of employees between 1897 and 2003.
After the mill sadly closed its doors nearly two decades ago, historian Ray Kerkhove said there was a proposal to turn the refinery into a tourist attraction, including cafes, restaurants and a theme park-like area.
Mr Kerkhove said it would’ve been a “lovely” idea to help put the town on the map.
“It was a lost opportunity,” he said.
Olympia Theme Park
One of the biggest tourist projects on the Sunshine Coast was a water slide park in Alexandra Headland called Olympia Theme Park.
It first opened with five slides in 1986 under its original name, Pacific Super Slide.
But the much-loved attraction never quite kicked on to theme park status and it was demolished in 2006 to make way for a luxury apartment project.
Mount Coolum restaurant
Historian Ray Kerkhove said there was a rejected proposal for a restaurant at the top of Mount Coolum in the 1980s with a cable car taking customers from the foot of the mountain to the restaurant’s front door.
The beloved mountain has become the subject of plenty of passionate debate in recent years as efforts ramp up to try and prevent the popular site from being loved to death as more and more hikers take to the trails in pursuit of that perfect Instagram snap from the summit.
Traveston Crossing Dam
After a prolonged drought in Southeast Queensland, The Queensland state government once proposed a $2bn water project, Traveston Crossing Dam, near Gympie.
But this giant plan came to a screeching halt when the federal government announced in 2009 that it would not approve it.
The dam had been planned to supply Brisbane and floodproof Gympie.
The decision came after years of community campaigning against the project.
About $500m was spent on buying up 13,000 hectares of the land for the dam, which was later sold back into private hands for about half the price.
Tanawha World
In 1978, the Sunshine Coast welcomed an exciting business project called Tanawha World, which included a bush tour by train, a river boat ride, and a life-size model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
During the 1980s, it was bought by new owners, renovated, and reopened under a new name: Dino’s Fun Park.
But in 1983, the park was placed on the market.
Sunshine Coast’s ‘Hollywood’
Queensland senior historian Ray Kerkhove said there was a bold and exciting project in the early 2000s to create a cinema and production hub between Yandina and Coolum Beach, like “Hollywood”.
“We were going to be the California of Australia,” he said.
The plan was to rival the likes of the Gold Coast as a film production hub, but the credits rolled before the project could get off the ground.
Clive Palmer’s big dreams
Sunshine Coast resort owner and billionaire Clive Palmer proposed a $2.5bn project for the Sunshine Coast in 2012, including an international airport, 1000-room beachfront hotel, and upgrades to his existing Palmer Coolum Resort, such as a casino, theme park, and a convention centre.
He had also planned to launch a monorail between his resort and the airport, and a hovercraft service, carrying passengers from Brisbane to Coolum.
Controversial zip line
In 2015, a tourism company proposed to build a 2.1km zip line through the treetops in Kondalilla National Park.
This bold idea faced backlash from environmentalists concerned about the project’s potential impact to the park.
Marina hotel
Mooloolaba Marina chairman Michael Fortune said a developer wanted to build a hotel on the Mooloolaba Marina a couple of years ago, but the proposal was shot down.
Mr Fortune said the hotel didn’t go ahead because his members voted against it and it failed to meet necessary requirements of being a “marine-related” development.
Badderam Eco Luxe Resort & Spa
Badderam Eco Luxe Resort and Spa along Box St, Buderim was a multimillion-dollar project for a five-star luxury hotel, which originally got approval from the Sunshine Coast Council in 2018.
However, the site, which was owned by Heidi Meyer and Kim Carroll, was sold last year.
It remains unknown at present whether the project will proceed under the new owners and what timeline if so, for the highly-anticipated 111-suite resort and restaurant proposal.
Kenilworth’s controversial dunny
To finish off the list in style, let’s not forget the toilet.
Right before the pandemic hit the world, a toilet worth more than half a million opened at a town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in a bid to entice people to visit the area.
The Sunshine Coast Council unveiled a unique, $635,000 bright yellow, blue and white toilet block at Isaac Moore Park, Kenilworth in early 2020.
While some called it a waste of money, the council and community of Kenilworth believed the creative and controversial dunny would attract and keep a flood of tourists into their town.
The jury’s still out on that one.
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