Space theme park planned for Pimpama to go before Gold Coast City Council

SPACE is the final frontier and a proposed new theme park on the Gold Coast’s frontier is aiming to go out of this world.

James Gilmore" Space Corporation is the owner of the Strawberry Farm at Pimpama and will soon be announcing plans for the site Pic by David Clark

SPACE may well be the final frontier but a proposed new theme park on the edge of the Gold Coast is aiming to go out of this world.

The Space Flight Academy Gold Coast will, if approved, be built at Pimpama on the site of the northern suburb’s famous Strawberry Farm.

The Gilmour Space Corporation’s proposed project would feature a “space camp-style ­facility, a space-themed education attraction which provides information and education on space and astronaut life in a fun environment”.

MAN DIES IN FIERY HINTERLAND CRASH

The space park is planned for the site of the old strawberry farm at Pimpama. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

A 1990sq m space museum with relics and items relating to space travel would also be included.

A giant metal hanger, similar to those that house the space shuttle at Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in the US will be built to contain the museum, space camp and a cafe.

A development application for the project has been submitted to the Gold Coast City Council and public consultation opens today.

The project will in part go before the council’s planning committee this morning when its developers ask for a partial closure of Pimpama-Jacobs Well Road for works to begin.

Gilmour Space Corporation director James Gilmour did not return calls to the Bulletin yesterday. However he previously said the project would be a small step for development but a giant leap for the Gold Coast.

“I really think this is going to put the Gold Coast on the map,” he told the Bulletin last year.

“This is a lifelong passion for my brother and me, and we are looking forward to having this up and running.”

The Gilmour Space Corporation and sister company Gilmour Space Technologies bought the Strawberry Farm site last year for more than $1.9 million.

The new space facility will mark the end of the northern Gold Coast institution, which has operated for more than 35 years. Its existing buildings will be demolished.

Area councillor and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said she was excited about the prospect of a new and innovative tourist facility on the Gold Coast’s northern frontier.

Plans for the space camp include a 1990sq m museum, giant hanger and cafe.

“I have met with the developers a few times and I know they are really enthusiastic young men who have made a significant investment in our city,” she said.

“They have great confidence of creating a theme park-type attraction which will complement our existing tourism infrastructure.

“Bringing activity to this centre in the city’s north is great.”

The US Space Camp was created in 1982 to provide education programs relating to space science.

It inspired others around the world including Canada, Japan, Turkey and Europe as well as a popular 1986 film.