Grundy’s Surfers Paradise: Famous slides in 1980s to slum mall front

The Surfers Paradise foreshore was once home to the Gold Coast’s most popular attraction but has fallen into disrepair in recent years as proposed upgrades failed to become reality. Here’s what happened.

THE Surfers Paradise foreshore was once a must-visit location on the Gold Coast when it was home to one of the city’s most famous attractions.

For 12 years, Grundy’s Entertainment Centre was synonymous with the Glitter Strip and popular with both local and tourists alike.

The slides, which sat just metres from Surfers Paradise Beach have been gone for three decades but fond memories of those days remain.

Grundy’s during its earliest days.

The same cannot be said for the area they once stood, which has fallen into disrepair in recent years and is now the subject of a heated debate.

The Gold Coast City Council’s Governance and Administration Committee will this week consider whether to grant an extended lease to the Paradise Centre in the face of stern opposition from the sitting and ex councillor, Central Chamber of Commerce and nearby surf club.

The complex has held a 50-year lease on Crown land which fronts the centre since mid-1981 when the Paradise Centre and Grundy’s opened.

The way many remember Surfers Paradise.

Ex Development and Housing Minister Russ Hinze signed off the land – at that stage parkland – to Eddy Kornhauser. He was the original developer of the Paradise Centre

Grundy’s, famous for its slides, video games and roller coasters opened in early 1981 and was one of the Paradise Centre original tenants.

The late Reg Grundy, known to friends as RG, selected the site after meeting with Mr Kornhauser and it was built to his careful specifications by local company Statham, headed by Alf Vockler. The grand opening, at the peak of the 1980-81 summer, was a big event for the city and featured a “cast of thousands” which is remember fondly by Gold Coasters.

The slides were finally removed in 1987.

Its iconic slides, which overlooked Surfers Paradise beach and later closed in 1987, became internationally famous after appearing in the music video for Australian Crawl song Errol in 1981.

Grundy’s in Surfers Paradise operated throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s with its range of famous rides and games including the Go-Gator, Pong and the shooting gallery. In June 1993, its closure was announced.

Cavill Ave and Grundy’s were popular attractions in the 1980s.

Grundy Organisation vice president of leisure and administration Robert Graham made the journey to the city to make the announcement, which threw 80 people out of the work.

And he admitted they had been unable to find anyone to take over the operation of the centre once their lease expired in September 1993.

The centre’s owners, a Japanese corporation, footed a $2.5 million bill to redevelop the rest of the centre as a food hall and hoped that it would be able to re-employ some of the remaining Grundy’s staff.

The Grundy’s site in the early 1980s.

Mayor Lex Bell declared the closure to be “something of a tragedy” because it had become an important part of the Gold Coast.

“But I feel confident the replacement will provide a suitable alternative and the development is timely,” he said.

The land which was leased to the centre in 1981. Photo by Richard Gosling

Around three million people went through the doors of Grundy’s between its opening in March 1981 and the day of its closure being announced.

A record attendance was set in the first week, when 25,000 people bought tickets in one single day.

The Paradise Centre has seen better days. Photo by Richard Gosling

The merry-go-round was later relocated to Broadbeach before it too was close and dismantled more than a year ago.

Timezone took over the Grundy’s lease and continues to operate in the Paradise Centre today.

Through the late 1990s and 2000s, the area gradually became rundown, sparking calls for a revamp.

As early as 2008 there were calls to create the Gold Coast’s answer to Brisbane’s King George Square on the slide’s former location.