Bruce Bishop carpark: Plans to redevelop Surfers Paradise carpark
Giant towers and civic spaces are just some of the astonishing developments pitched for redevelopment Surfers Paradise’s Bruce Bishop carpark. SEE THE DESIGNS
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GIANT towers and civic spaces are just some of the astonishing developments pitched for redevelopment Surfers Paradise’s Bruce Bishop carpark.
Multiple developers have put forward proposals for the Beach Road site over the past 20 years, but none have ever been realised.
The fate of the parking complex will be decided on Monday at a full council meeting when city leaders are expected to vote on whether to sell the site again.
It is the latest salvo in a long-running debate over the site’s future.
Back in 2004 the newly elected council under Olympic legend and Mayor Ron Clarke moved to sell the carpark in a move which shocked the community.
And nobody was more upset than the man for whom the carpark was named for – Bruce Bishop.
Mr Bishop was a long-serving Alderman on the old Gold Coast City Council in the 1970s and served in State Parliament from 1977 to 1980 as the Liberal Party member for Surfers Paradise.
After being defeated at the 1980 election by the National Party’s Rob Borbidge, Mr Bishop stepped away from public life in 1986 and moved to Mount Tamborine.
But the proposed sale of his legacy made the old lion roar once more.
By 2004, Mr Bishop was 79 but had the fury of a young man as he took aim at his successors.
“I can’t believe they are tossing away all our work – this is unimaginable, it’s a backward step,’’ he told the Bulletin at the time.
“I’ve kept out of Gold Coast politics for the last 10 years, and I’ve never commented, even when asked, because I had my time and now it’s theirs.
“But I can’t keep quiet this time, the council is just going too far.
“It’s the easiest thing in the world to sell something. It’s impossible to get it back. If they do this, what has it all been for? Why did we resume those homes?’’
Cr Clarke hit back, suggesting Mr Bishop was more concerned about losing his name’s association with the area.
The battle over the sale culminated in a series of furious public meetings which brought together Mr Bishop as well as other figures including Mr Borbidge, Cr Clarke, former mayor Ray Stevens and then-councillors Susie Douglas and Eddy Sarroff.
“This is asset-stripping the heart of the Gold Coast,’’ Mr Borbidge said.
“I am not aware of any council in the country that has gone down this path, on top of the neglect it has shown for the area over the past few years.
“We haven’t seen the roadworks completed and it has now become a shemozzle. The Neal Shannon Park is land that has been part of the heritage of the place and that is essential carparking in a suburb that has acknowledged carparking issues.”
Mr Borbidge then suggested he would potentially run for mayor himself.
The sale was resolved when Cr Clarke vetoed any redevelopment plans in December 2004.
But that wasn’t the end of the debate.
In September 2007, Sydney-based developer Portberg Property announced plans to build a twin-tower, 101-storey development on the site
The $850 million residential and commercial towers project was designed by Marchese and Partners International, one of the world’s leading architecture firms.
But the proposal never progressed after a furious reaction from city leaders.
Cr Sarroff said he did not want another monolith to clog up the city’s skyline.
“I will be doing everything in my power to make sure that this type of development doesn’t go ahead,’’ he said.
“We need to be smart about this type of thing. The ratepayers must be consulted about all of the plans.’’
Fast-forward a year to August 2008 – Australia had just won a swag of gold at the Beijing Olympic Games, Premier Anna Bligh announced plans for the Gold Coast to bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the future of Indy hung in the balance.
It was the final days before the Global Financial Crisis began in earnest in mid-September but Gold Coasters were blissfully unaware of the impending panic.
The council was eyeing off a major $1.35-billion redevelopment of the Bruce Bishop Carpark site to create a new headquarters.
Led by the newly re-elected 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 after expressions of interest were opened for the site.
Developers were asked to provide designs that would maintain the existing 1600 carparking spaces.
Winten chief executive Anthony Otto told the Bulletin the proposal was “left of centre” but could be built without cost to ratepayers – if the council gave up its Evandale and Nerang sites for residential and commercial development.
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.
The council would receive the building and pocket $50 million.
It was also planned to be one of the greenest buildings in the county, linked by a pedestrian footpath over the Nerang River to Bundall where Evandale was to be a residential project.
Cr Clarke was initially interested in the Surfers Paradise project, first submitted under terms of secrecy in late 2007, but later backed plans for a $400-million eco-friendly headquarters at Robina.
Then Surfers Paradise councillor Susie Douglas told the Bulletin it was a shame such a “beautiful iconic building” was not given proper consideration.
“They absolutely won’t look at another site (other than Robina),” she said.
The world market was thrown into turmoil by the GFC on September 15 2008, ending any chance of the project going ahead and Winten moved on.
No new proposal was made public by developer Far East Consortium which bought the site from council in August 2018, only to back out of the deal in 2020.
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