Gone but not forgotten: Incredible tourist attractions of yesteryear
A free-ranging lion park, shopping centre roller-coasters, ‘magic’ castles, and a mountainside slippery-slide. Step back in time to revisit these amazing local tourist attractions. VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE
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Where else but Queensland?
Brisbane’s reputation as a sleepy country town has changed dramatically since it got its first cinema and fun parlour back in 1896 when the Royal Arcade first opened in Queen St.
As the city emerges from a year of COVID lockdowns, we look back fondly at some of the entertainment attractions that have never been successfully recreated anywhere else.
From a free-ranging lion safari park, to roller-coasters in shopping centres, “magic” castles on beach cliffs and even a mountainside slippery-slide, the city often referred to as Bris-Vegas had many colourful fun parlours and entertainment venues.
Take our trip down “Brisney-land” memory lane with this list.
ALMA PARK ZOO, DAKABIN
Southeast Queensland has always had a love affair with zoos. Alma Park Zoo, the first to open in Queensland, was a 16ha venue north of Brisbane.
It included Australian and exotic species and was owned by Bill Williams. The zoo closed in 2014 and many of the animals were transferred to Queensland Zoo. There were plans for the zoo to open in Logan but that plan was cancelled in 2015.
AUSTRALIAN WOOLSHED, FERNY HILLS
This attraction at Ferny Hills opened in 1982, in a bid to lure tourists and offer locals a place to visit on the weekends and school holidays.
It featured displays, animals and shows illustrating what life was like in the country, and was the brainchild of farmer Ken Mander-Jones. The water slides were popular with local teens, and were often used by schools for sport events. It closed in 2006 to make way for a housing development.
BIG PINEAPPLE, NAMBOUR
The Big Pineapple is a heritage-listed tourist attraction on the Nambour Connection Rd at Woombye. The two-storey 16m-high attraction opened in 1971 and was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2009. It was a major drawcard for children to climb the steps inside the pineapple in the late 1970s and then buy a pineapple ice cream boat after.
The plantation’s 40 hectares eventually included a restaurant, train ride and Nutmobile, rainforest, Macadamia Nut Factory, Big Macadamia, Tomorrow’s Harvest greenhouse, Farm Show, Wildlife Gardens and the Animal Nursery. The attraction went into receivership in 2009 and was closed in October 2010 but resurrected and continues to operate today. The Nutmobile was sold in July 2011. Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited in 1983 and the farm’s train track is still the steepest for any Queensland passenger rail.
BOOMERANG THEATRE, IPSWICH RD, ANNERLEY
A favourite haunt for cinema goers. It was the last theatre in Brisbane to allow patrons to smoke during movie screenings.
It opened in 1924 and was given an art deco-style redesign in 1933 before it was heritage listed. It closed in January, 1995 and was demolished eight months later to make way for a housing and retail subdivision.
BULLENS AFRICAN LIONS SAFARI, YATALA
This animal park may have been before its time but would never be given planning permission today. It opened in 1969 allowing customers to drive their cars through the park while wild animals were free to roam around and even jump up on stationary cars to the shock of the vehicle’s occupants. And with long lines waiting to get in, cars were often banked up or crawling along at snail’s pace.
There were several incidents including the 1973 case of an attendant being dragged off by a lion and killed in front of a family in their car. Staff had stories about being bitten by hyenas or clawed by tigers before it eventually shut in 1989. Jumbo, the park elephant, was also a public celebrity and once escaped to Beenleigh for dinner after rummaging through local rubbish bins. He also was the source of many rumours including once chasing out of the park a lion who was never seen again. The animals were sold off and the land is now the headquarters for Ashton’s Circus.
CLOUDLAND, BOWEN HILLS
Long-time Brisbane residents will remember Cloudland, the ballroom on the top of Montpelier Heights at Bowen Hills. It was originally to be Brisbane’s Luna Park after the land was bought in 1938 for £50,000.
The famous ballroom, with its timber floor, was modelled on the La Monica ballroom in Santa Monica and opened in August 1940. It was sold as the “best ballroom in the Southern Hemisphere”. It originally had a train running up the side of the hill from Breakfast Creek. More than 19,000 danced at the hall in its first two weeks of operation. After the war, the amusement park closed and in the 1970s became a pop and music venue before it was demolished in 1982 and developed into apartments.
FANTASYLAND AND SPACESHIP SERVO, PACIFIC HIGHWAY
Families hitting the Gold Coast would stop to refuel at the curious Fantasyland and Tramburger petrol station, dominated by its own spaceship.
The design was based on the spacecraft from 1960s TV sitcom My Favorite Martian, starring Bill Bixby and Ray Walston as Uncle Martin. The Tramburger was famous for its grilled burgers and Fantasyland, a conglomeration of concrete in the shape of a castle.
FESTIVAL HALL, ALBERT ST
This venue grew a reputation for hosting some of the biggest boxing matches and music events in Brisbane at the time. Before Boondall, QPAC and the Brisbane Entertainment and Convention Centre, it was the only big concert venue.
The three-storey brick building, on the corner of Charlotte and Albert streets, was demolished in 2003 and the city’s live music scene is still recovering. The original building was constructed in 1910 and later replaced in the 1950s, opening in April 1959 as Festival Hall. It was originally known as Brisbane Stadium, primarily for boxing. However, it was also where Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Johnnie Ray played in the 1950s. After the show, many walked up Charlotte St to The Pancake Manor, which is still in the classic red brick building.
FUNLAND WATER PARK, BRIBIE ISLAND
This multistorey, 183m water slide and water park, at the corner of Goodwin Drive and Cotterill Ave, opened in November 1986. It had a swimming pool, wading pool, kart track and 15-hole mini golf course.
There was also a kiosk, picnic grounds, playground, video games and barbecue area.
It was a popular hangout for youths in the 1980s, as well as families. The structure was sold and moved to Lawnton in the early 1990s where it stayed until maintenance became an issue and it was dismantled.
GONDWANALAND, SOUTH BANK
It’s hard to forget this exotic playground complete with a canal for boat rides, a monorail, and a butterfly house on the banks of the Brisbane River.
It opened in 1992, after Expo 88, but a rainforest populated by plaster-cast dinosaurs dated the site and it closed in 2005. It was set up as an Australian wildlife sanctuary and tourist attraction with about 500 animals. Offices and restaurants and cafes were built on the site and the canals and Venice-style bridges were demolished.
HIBISCUS GARDENS, THE OASIS, SUNNYBANK
This was an amazing complex of pools and tropical gardens on a massive suburban block in the heart of Sunnybank. The Pottinger family opened a public swimming pool in 1938 on their flower farm at the corner of Turton St and Station Rd.
The amusement park was a haven for southsiders, and a much-loved icon, before it closed in 1989. These days, it’s hard to understand, but in the 1950s and 60s, it was one of Queensland’s premier tourist sites equivalent to what Lone Pine Sanctuary is today. The land has since been subdivided for housing and some local shops.
HYPERDOME FUN HOUSE
In the late 1980s, Logan was Australia’s fastest growing region, which reiterated the need for a new shopping centre.
Architecturally designed to incorporate ceiling domes, large trees, cascading water features and themed retail precincts, the Hyperdome was a game-changer for the state, emerging as Queensland’s first themed retail centre. When it was first built it had its own fun park in the middle of the centre. The park included swings, rides and a fun house. When the Hyperdome opened in 1989, a play area and slide opened inside the centre.
LUNA PARK REDCLIFFE AND CARNIVAL CENTRE
There were two amusement parks — one at Suttons Beach and the other on the site, formerly known as Centenary Park, where the RSL building now stands.
It was run by Cec Clarke and had a merry-go-round, horse-o-plane and slippery-dip. During the war, these parks were not only popular with locals, but also servicemen.
Redcliffe’s Luna Park opened in 1944 and had a merry-go-round, slippery-dip, steam train ride, ferris wheel, chair-o-plane, midget cars, amusement games and stalls. It closed in the late 1960s and the site is now home to Settlement Cove Lagoon.
MAGIC MOUNTAIN, GOLD COAST
Magic Mountain, its castle and chairlift were favourites with visitors to Queensland and the southeast during the 1970s until 1991, when it shut.
The amusement park opened in 1962 on top of a peak overlooking in Nobby Beach and apparently had 40,000 people in the first year. The site is now home to some very ritzy Gold Coast mansions and apartments. Families who went to Magic Mountain usually topped off a day of Gold Coast fun with dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, a two-storey building painting pink with a large mural of twisted spaghetti splashed down the side and across its windows – very avant-garde for the late 1970s.
MARINELAND, GOLD COAST
Before SeaWorld on the Gold Coast there were a number of marine parks with performing dolphins and Marineland was the biggest on The Spit.
It opened in 1965 and was originally called the Seaquarium with a focus on looking after sea creatures. It changed its name to Marineland and thrived as the Gold Coast’s major marine life park. However, when Sea World opened, the market could not sustain two parks and in 1976, Sea World’s Keith Williams reportedly paid $1.2 million to buy Marineland and it later closed. Sea World’s first major ride came in 1978 when the Viking’s Revenge Flume Ride was unveiled, and in 1986 Sea World had Australia’s first monorail. Many families holidayed on the Gold Coast in the late 1970s shelled out for a day of fun in the sun at Marineland.
MILTON TENNIS COURTS, MILTON RD
Brisbane was not just a town for cinema and theatre buffs. It was also on the map for the Milton Tennis Centre, where tennis lovers were able to grab a bleacher at the outdoor Milton Tennis Centre, on Milton Rd, which was built in 1915.
It was home to 19 hard courts and four grass courts and at one time was the country’s top tennis venue after hosting eight Australian Opens and 16 Davis Cup ties.
The Milton courts were converted into Australia’s major tennis centre for the Davis Cup final in 1958 and were the venue for the first Australian Open in 1969.
Rolling Stones, Elton John and Johnny Cash played there and 10,000 fans witnessed Jeff White retain his national lightweight title against Lionel Rose in 1971.
It hosted its last Davis Cup tie in 1990, and the courts were ripped down in 2002 after Tennis Queensland sold up in 1999 and a series of fires.
ODEON CINEMA, QUEEN STREET
Many children of the 1970s will remember the steep steps up to the main theatre in the wooden building fronting Queen St between the former Winter Garden Theatre and the Regent Theatre, both of which no longer exist.
The Majestic Theatre was the city’s first major cinema and was built in 1915 and owned by Greater Union Theatres. It was remodelled in 1957 and reopened as the Odeon Theatre. It closed in 1976 with Bedknobs and Broomsticks one of the last movies screened before it was demolished around 1981. Only a few of Brisbane’s old cinemas have stood the test of time including Graceville’s Regal Twin which started screening movies in 1922. The Balmoral, which opened in Hawthorne in the 1940s, is still operating even though it is owned and operated by Cineplex.
PENNY ARCADE, REDCLIFFE
The amusement arcade was a feature of the second Redcliffe Jetty, which was built in 1922, just north of the original.
The new jetty included a halfway house and in 1938, Harry Pearson proposed transforming it into an amusement arcade, or what the locals called a “penny arcade”. It suited the carnival atmosphere of Redcliffe at the time and locals remember diving off the jetty in search of fallen pennies. Bee Gee Barry Gibb is one of those who remembers with fondness many days spent at the penny arcade. The jetty and arcade were demolished in December 1973 to make way for the current jetty.
THE PLANTATION, GUMDALE
This was the big place for school outings during the 1970s. The venue had nine outdoor swimming pools in asymmetric shapes including a kangaroo pool.
It also included a large picnic area, volleyball court and even outdoor ping pong tables. The popular venue is still operating and is now the home of The Royal Life Saving Society Queensland, and houses a swim school, function rooms and training facilities. Sadly the kangaroo-shaped pool no longer exists. In 1979, it claimed to have the largest
ROLLERDROME, REDCLIFFE
The Redcliffe Rollerdrome opened in 1928 and closed in 1985 to make way for an expansion to Anzac Park and the Anzac Place memorial site.
It had canvas walls to keep patrons cool and allow for open-air skating during summer. It was where world champion skater Ethel Flanagan trained during the 1930s and 1940s.
SKATE RINKS, STAFFORD AND RED HILL
Saturday morning sessions at Stafford Skate Centre, were always busy with dozens of teens hitting the rink to play games and show off to the sounds of Nut Bush City Limits, The Sweet’s Fox on the Run, Carole Bayer Sager’s You’re Moving Out Today and anything by Kiss. The Stafford Skate Centre opened in 1972. Robert Carter worked as a coach at the rink from 1973 and took over the centre in 1981.
He originally worked at the Redcliffe Rollerdrome. Sadly, Brisbane will lose this last major rink in September when its lease ends and it will close to make way for a gym. There was once more than 20 skate rinks in southeast Queensland including an ice rink at Toombul Shopping Centre. Today, less than half a dozen remain and there are increasing fears the rinks could disappear altogether.
Red Hill Skate Arena was destroyed by fire in 2002 and was sitting vacant until 2018 when development approval was given for it to restored and turned into a cinema. Skateway at Upper Mt Gravatt was another popular venue and was owned by former president of the state Liberal Party Con Galtos.
The former Inala skate rink, built in 1959, was also left vacant for nearly 10 years from 2005 when the building was covered in graffiti. It has now been redeveloped into a fitness centre and offices. The five main roller skating rinks still open in the southeast include Skateaway at Albany Creek, Skateaway Bundamba, Rollerdrome at Caloundra West, Digi Roller Skating at Hillcrest and the soon-to-close Stafford Skate Centre at Stafford.
WILD WATERS WATER SLIDE, SHAILER PARK
Six years before the Hyperdome opened, the Shailer Park site had a varied history as a water slide park and a zoo. Wild Waters Water Slide was the perfect school holiday fun for $5.
Built in 1982 on the site now occupied by the Hyperdome Shopping Centre, the park featured a large tap gushing water into five slides down the hill into a pool, next to heated spa baths.
Before the slide, the site was vacant but many would remember a red teepee.
The water slide was next to Ashton’s Circus, which sold its land on Bryants Rd and the Pacific Highway to Myer in 1977. Myer held off opening a shopping centre after the Loganholme Shopping Village opened on Bryants Rd in 1987. Ongoing negotiations for the Hyperdome site involved the sale of Wild Waters in 1984.
Prior to its opening, part of the Hyperdome site was home to Ashton’s Animal Kingdom 88-acre safari park from 1969.
MYER CENTRE ROLLERCOASTER
A rollercoaster at Top’s on the top level of the Myer Centre in the Queen St Mall was another popular venue in the late 1980s.
A Ferris wheel, pirate ship, arcade games, dodgem cars, and the Dragon Coaster were great for a day of entertainment for visitors to the city.
The Dragon Coaster is reported to make an occasional appearance around Brisbane at school fetes and community events.
DID WE MISS YOUR FAVOURITE? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS
Originally published as Gone but not forgotten: Incredible tourist attractions of yesteryear
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