‘Urban exploration’: Queensland’s abandoned sites and the people exploring them
A number of sites around Queensland sit abandoned and derelict, but that won’t keep away these ‘urban explorers’. See our list of the abandoned sites around the state and the people risking it all to explore them.
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It’s a phenomenon taking over social media – people entering and exploring abandoned sites and sharing the footage for all to see.
On TikTok, the hashtag #urbex, short for ‘urban exploration’, has more than 630,000 videos of people, mainly anonymously entering abandoned premises that are often left derelict and graffitied.
Australia is no stranger to this trend, with self professed urban explorers entering abandoned and sometimes private sites to see what has been left behind.
Take a look at the Queensland locations that have become ‘urbex’ hot spots and what they looked like in their former glory.
SUNSHINE COAST
Former TAFE Campus, Tewantin
Opened in 2006, the TAFE campus in Tewantin was promised to be a top educational facility with a focus on arts, welcoming more than 700 students.
But when student numbers dropped under 300 by 2013, the campus at 24 Cooroy Noosa Rd officially closed its doors in 2014.
A decade later, and the site remains derelict and abandoned.
In 2018, Noosa Council announced plans to purchase the site which were later withdrawn in 2020 due to complications relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
An expression of interest process was finalised in 2022 but was delayed due to Federal Court Native Title proceedings.
On January 5 of this year, locals from Community Village clashed with police after claiming they were not trespassing at the site and instead exerting their right to clean up for homeless people so they could use the site.
MP for Noosa Sandy Bolton recently announced that now that the Native Title determination has been completed in 2024, progress for the decommissioned TAFE site can finally occur.
Superbee Honey World, Tanawha
Once a prime tourist location, Superbee Honey World in Tanawha once offered family-friendly fun, including mini golf, a live beekeeping show, a honey tasting area and fairytale-themed attractions such as Snow White’s cottage.
The two-acre former honey factory along the Tanawha Tourist Drive was founded in 1968 and closed 50 years later in 2008 after relocating to Forbes in New South Wales.
With many of the structures never demolished, the former tourism attraction now sits abandoned, graffitied and derelict.
There are currently no plans for the site.
The Butter Factory, Eumundi
An iconic piece of local history, the Eumundi Butter Factory was once the Sunshine Coast’s largest milk collecting facility, producing butter and cream from 1907 to 1953.
But in July 2005, the heritage-listed building was ravished by a fire and has remained abandoned for nearly two decades.
Once producing more than 130 tonnes of butter a month, the former factory site turned into a ‘graffiti haven’ with some locals referring to the derelict building as an ‘eyesore’.
In October 2023, plans were lodged to transform the 1.95 hectare site into a single-storey shopping centre for the region as part of the ‘Our Village Eumundi’ development.
The Formosa family, who own the Eumundi Butter Factory, said they are looking to preserve or add to the design of the former heritage-listed building to retain as much history as possible.
READ MORE: PLANS LODGED FOR EUMUNDI BUTTER FACTORY
BRISBANE & SURROUNDS
Antiques Market Building, Loganholme
Located along the M1 near the Logan Motorway interchange, the old Antiques Market Building has become a hot spot for ‘urban explorers’, with various social media videos showing people visiting the former antiques building.
Sitting vacant since 2008, the two-storey brick building known by explorers as the ‘abandoned lolly shop’ on 4144-4150 Pacific Hwy, Loganholme had plans to be the new site of the Alma Park Zoo in 2010, which were later scrapped.
Local Logan businesswoman Jaye Rose has submitted multiple tenders to Logan City Council to lease the site as a haunted house attraction as part of her company ‘Evilcorp’, but has been denied multiple times.
The site remains untouched today.
Wolston Park Hospital, Wacol
Once Queensland’s largest mental health facility, Wolston Park Hospital in Wacol is one of the most infamous abandoned sites in the state, haunted by stories of decades of torture and abuse.
Formally known as Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum, Goodna Asylum and Brisbane Mental Hospital, the 450-hectare site housed 50,000 inmates in its 155-year history after opening in 1865.
In the 1950s, the hospital’s population peaked with 2500 residents and 700 staff, pushing for a deinstitutionalisation.
The mental health facility formally closed in 2001, with the Queensland Police Service taking over part of the site in 2007 for their Police Academy and other training facilities.
The site contains various heritage-listed buildings which means it cannot be demolished.
Toombul Shopping Centre, Nundah
Once a thriving shopping centre, home to 130 stores, Toombul Shopping Centre on Sandgate has sat abandoned since for two years, after devastating floods in February 2022 wrecked the 56-year-old shopping centre.
Owners of the site, Mirvac, announced they would be permanently closing the 9.9ha site which was previously home to shops such as Coles, Target and Kmart, citing wreckage caused by floods on February 25 and February 27 in 2022.
Demolition works on the site have begun, expected to be finished in late 2024 or early 2025, yet urban explorers are still entering the unsafe construction site.
Security dogs were implemented by contractors in an attempt to keep away unwanted trespassers, but were quickly banned from being used at the site after a photo went viral of one of the dogs cooped up inside a small cage in June of this year.
A spokeswoman from Mirvac said they had contacted the RSPCA to assist in any investigation and have advised their principal site contractor to immediately cease the use of security dogs.
Footage of young people has emerged on social media, entering the abandoned shopping centre and exploring the flood-damaged stores as part of the ‘urban exploration’ movement or ‘urbex’.
READ MORE: ABANDONED TOOMBUL SHOPPING CENTRE TARGETED BY YOUTHS
Inala Skate Rink, Inala
Abandoned for nearly two decades, Inala Skate Rink at 54 Serviceton Ave is currently up for sale for an undisclosed price.
The 0.61ha site opened in 1959 and thrived as a local skate rink from the 60s to the 80s, but closed its doors officially in 2007.
The southwest Brisbane rink, which has three street frontages, had plans approved in 2019 for a gym complex and pool, however the site still remains derelict and graffitied.
READ MORE: LANDMARK INALA SKATE RINK UP FOR SALE
TOOWOOMBA
Bronco Motor Inn, Charlton
Once a thriving three-star motel along Toowoomba’s Warrego Hwy, the Bronco Motor Inn offered an 18-room accommodation spot just 15 minutes from Toowoomba Airport in its heyday.
Closed years ago, the 2.6 hectare site now sits abandoned and graffitied, with many urban explorers posting videos trespassing on the former hotel, showing off smashed windows, an empty pool and trashed rooms.
Owned by sporting legends Benny Elias and Mick Doohan since 2007, the two recently had plans approved to build a mixed-use commercial precinct on the site neighbouring the BP service station, with estimated building costs upward of $10m.
The new site, approved in March 2024, will include a 61-room motel, a supermarket, liquor outlet, retail outlets, a drive-through restaurant, tavern, hotel and 250-space car park.
Black Gully Malthouse, Newtown
A heritage-listed site instrumental to Toowoomba’s history, the Black Gully Malthouse has become a new location for urban explorers to visit.
Erected in 1899, the two-storey brick malt house was originally constructed for the Darling Downs Malting Company before being used by both Northern Australian Breweries and later Carlton United Breweries who expanded the site in the 1960s.
While the original bluestone kilns have been partially demolished, most of the site still remains today, despite malting ceasing at the site from 2011.
CAIRNS
Cairns Tropical Zoo, Clifton Beach
Once one of Cairns’ prime tourist attractions, Cairns Tropical Zoo, also remembered as Wild World Tropical Zoo officially closed in 2015 after operating for 35 years.
Situated on Captain Cook Hwy, the three-hectare site originally opened as a bird park before expanding to include Komodo dragons, cassowaries, crocodiles, dingoes and a range of animal attractions.
Since 2015, the former zoo has sat derelict, with Cairns Regional Council approving plans in 2021 to build a service station and fast food outlet across the site’s two lots.
With development yet to begin on the site, urban explorers have entered the closed site which has become graffitied and overgrown with weeds.
Old Barron Gorge Power Station, Kuranda
A historical site dubbed one of Cairns ‘best urbex’ spots, the old Barron Gorge Power Station has become a popular abandoned exploration spot in Far North Queensland.
Opened in 1935, the underground hydro power station was one of the first in Queensland and involved two large turbines that generated electricity to more than 30,000 homes for 28 years.
In 1963, the Barron Gorge Hydro Scheme was introduced and the original power plant was made redundant, left to erode.
Still found at the bottom of the Barron Falls Gorge, the former station is said to now be inhabited by micro bats.
READ MORE: HISTORY OF CAIRNS HYDRO POWER PLANT
GYMPIE
Gallangowan Forestry Station
The Gallangowan Forestry Station, about 50km away from Goomeri, came about when the area was declared as a forestry reserve in 1933 and became a reforestation nursery.
The population of the reserve is estimated to have been at its peak in the 1960s.
Alongside the station, Gallangowan State School was opened in 1940 to provide education to children of forestry workers.
Whilst the reserve still exists, both the station and school have since closed, with the school closing in 1996 due to lack of enrolments.
The station’s fire tower, once stocked with fire equipment with a connected water supply, was the highest of its kind in Queensland at the time of its construction, reaching about 40 metres.
First registered grave of the Gympie region, Corella
The first registered grave within the Gympie region lies at Albrecht Rd, Corella belonging to Donald Sutherland.
He was born in Scotland in 1836 and migrated to Australia at the age of 19.
He had delivered goods from Maryborough to the Gympie gold fields and it is said he died when his cart rolled onto him whilst he slept sheltering from rain.
The Rotary Club of Gympie erected the monument in 1986.
Wondonga Homestead, Widgee
The land on which the homestead was built was originally part of the Widgee Station operating from 1849 but was bought by a cheesemaker in 1877 and became Wondonga Homestead.
The land was transferred but continued to produce cheese and construction began on the current homestead in 1902 adjacent to the original building.
The land moved on to become a beef cattle farm, then a dairy farm and was bought by the Wondonga Pastoral Company but was left unoccupied from 1962.
The structures turned to a state of disrepair.
In 1978, the current homestead was bought by the Widgee Historical Society and relocated to Widgee Hall, used for community events.
The original homestead did not survive.
Melawondi Tunnel
The Melawondi Tunnel was part of the track which connected Gympie to Imbil when the Mary Valley railway line was in use from the 1910s.
The train track and sleepers are still visible but the line is no longer used.
When visiting the tunnel, a clear track through the bushland can be seen indicating visitors come and go through the tunnel.
MACKAY
Old Commonwealth Bank building, Mackay
Mackay’s oldest commercial building was constructed in 1880 by Southall and Tracey for the Australian Joint Stock Bank and was state-heritage listed in 1992.
Graeme Arman bought the property for $3.1 million in 2007 but refurbishment work for the building was halted in 2014.
In February last year it was revealed the bank had become a shelter for homeless youth but the following month, squatters were moved on as the owners arranged for evaluations to ready the property for sale.
Mackay City Property agent Fred Dubois sought expressions of interest for the property at 63 Victoria St in late 2023, with realcommercial.com.au in late January stating it was “under offer”
In March this year, a “suspicious” fire broke out in the building which caused the nearby courthouse to evacuate.
Imnau Holdings, which had purchased the building in 2007, are currently facing court over alleged repair delays.
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