Gold Coast development: 10 most controversial towers and theme parks which never got built
From a Trump Tower to Disneyland and replacing Evandale with a giant island - these are the ten most amazing projects that almost got built on the Gold Coast.
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FROM Trump Tower to Disneyland and replacing Evandale with a giant island - these are the Gold Coast’s 10 most controversial developments which never went ahead.
PART ONE: GOLD COAST’S 10 BIGGEST PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
PART TWO: GOLD COAST’S 10 BIGGEST PROJECTS YET TO START
1: Trump Tower (2008)
US President Donald Trump was brought in to become a partner in a proposed tower in Broadbeach on the site of the Niecon Plaza in 2008.
Developers George Raptis and Larry Matthews were planning a new hotel at the site and hoped to attract the superstar developer to become a partner in the project.
The project was to be known as Trump Tower, sharing its name with the President’s pride and joy — the famous 68-storey New York high-rise which opened in 1983.
The Gold Coast tower was to be 55 storeys, with 20 operated as a hotel by the Trump Organisation and a further 30 levels of apartments.
But the global financial crisis happened two months before Mr Trump was due to visit the Gold Coast and the project never went ahead.
2: ASF Wavebreak Island (2014-15)
Developer ASF proposed redeveloping Wavebreak Island to build a cruise ship terminal, casino and effectively a whole new suburb for the Gold Coast. The project had the backing of the Newman Government and Mayor Tom Tate but was furiously opposed by community groups.
ASF redesigned the project several times. The late 2014 design featured hotels, theatres, an art museum, resort and even a school. The Newman Government planned to make a decision on the project but held off until after the election in early 2015, which it ultimately lost to Labor. The Palaszczuk Government, which had campaigned against the development, torpedoed it in April 2015.
3: Coomera Expo site (1996-98)
Following the success of Expo 88, the Gold Coast City Council voted to back hosting Expo 2002 at Coomera.
The Australian bid, headed by World Expo ’88 chief Sir Llew Edwards, was for a $407 million interactive technology event at Coomera.
With the backing of the State Government and the council, the bid for Expo 2002 pushed ahead and came down to a vote by the Bureau of International Expositions in Paris in June 1998.
In the weeks before the vote, retail heavyweight Westfield offered its support to the Borbidge Government to plan the development of the Coomera site, which would allow the site to become a shopping centre after Expo was finished.
The project never went ahead after the Gold Coast failed to win the bid. It is now the site of Coomera Town Centre.
4: The giant Clubbie of Wavebreak Island (1997)
The Big Clubbie of Wavebreak Island was proposed as the Gold Coast’s next major tourist attraction in one of the more bizarre ideas the city has seen.
The $180 million, 109-metre colossus would include a recreation of Uluru, measuring 200m long, 140m wide and 55m tall.
On top would be a 54m high 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, accessible by a central lift, chairlift and four separate walkways up the rock.
The rock structure was to be 15 storeys high and house a 6000-seat amphitheatre, a 500-roon hotel, a recreated rainforest with revolving barges over a coral reef floor and a casino or conference room with restraints, shops, museum and observatory.
5: The Mariner (2015-16)
A twin 44-storey tower development proposed for the Mariner’s Cove site on The Spit by Sunland Group.
Designed by architect Zaha Haddid, it was to feature a hotel, aquarium, gallery and museum.
Welcomed by some political leaders, it was opposed by the same community groups who had fought against the ASF project.
Sunland withdrew the project in late 2016 in the face of the opposition and put its lease on the site up for sale late last year.
6: Disneyland Gold Coast (1997-98)
Gold Coast-based Sport Minister Mr Mick Vievers visited Disneyland in late 1997 with former Expo chairman Sir Llew Edwards, fuelling speculation that the Government was negotiating a deal with Disney Corporation to set up shop in Queensland.
Initially led by the Borbidge Government and continued by Labor after it won that year’s election, taxpayers ultimately stumped up around $2 million.
Operating under the working title of ‘Starland’, former premier Wayne Goss was brought in to lead the charge and was sent to the US by the Government to negotiate with the Walt Disney company.
Ultimately Premier Peter Beattie wasn’t willing to throw more money at the project and it never went ahead.
7: Evandale Island (2009-10)
In 2009 the Gold Coast City Council commissioned a design competition to create a new-look Evandale, securing 61 entries from across the country.
The winning design was a bold concept, 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.
Within its walls were housed 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’ which would glow at night.
Evandale would have had its existing buildings demolished and replaced by parkland, paths and trees.
8: Dive! (1999)
Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg submitted plans to built a submarine-themed restaurant on the Gold Coast in early 1999.
The Dive! chain of restaurants was to be part of a $12 million redevelopment of the Paradise Centre.
It would have been the third restaurant in the chain.
Council approved the project in March 1999, just as the original Los Angeles restaurant closed.
The project never went ahead.
9: Council Headquarters (2008)
In 2008 the council eyed 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.
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.
10: Zarro’s Arrow (1980s)
Developer Pat Zarro unveiled plans for the world’s tallest building in late 1984.
The $100 million, 170-storey tower was earmarked for a site on 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 visits a year were set to go to the top of the Surfers tower, which was tipped to have a lift which could travel to the top in just 60 seconds.
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 Zarro put the site up for sale amid denials of financial trouble.
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