'Big Dipper' to return as Sydney's Luna Park gets $30 million overhaul
Nine new rides will be built at Sydney's famous Luna Park next year under a $30 million overhaul, as the NSW government urges tourism operators to invest in attractions to help the state recover from the coronavirus crisis.
The historic park, which opened at Milsons Point on Sydney Harbour in 1935, will close for six months from the end of January in 2021 to allow the installation of six children's rides and a new "Big Dipper" rollercoaster.
NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres at Luna Park on Tuesday. Credit:Rhett Wyman
NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres announced the upgrades on Tuesday, funded by the park's owners and investors, sent "an incredibly strong signal to the rest of the NSW tourism sector that now is the time to invest in your product".
"If you can't operate at full speed, or at full capacity, take this opportunity to invest in your product so that when everything's open again and visitors are coming back you've got a great experience you can provide," he said on Tuesday.
The attraction's managing director Peter Hearne said the upgrades were "an important moment in the history of Luna Park", which has been frustrated by noise complaints, legal action and financial woes in recent decades.
"It will ensure Luna Park remains commercially viable by being transformed into a world-class amusement park that all of Sydney should be proud of, while ensuring we retain the heritage and history of this important icon."
In 2018, the operators had warned the business may not survive, after a Land and Environment Court decision that determined they must lodge a development application each time they moved or replaced a ride.
Luna Park celebrated its 85th birthday in October.Credit:Edwina Pickles
But the park's future was secured after state authorities proposed planning changes that allowed the operators to make adjustments to rides using streamlined processes that did not require DAs.
Mr Hearne said the upgrade was the result of those changes to the State Environmental Planning Policy, or SEPP, which included public consultation to strike a balance with residents' concerns.
"All these rides that will be coming in will comply with those very strict controls that were placed [on the park] two years ago," he said.
NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres announces a major upgrade to Luna Park.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Mr Hearne said the new rides would also comply with "the existing regulations relating to noise, height, lights, and hours of operation that have been in place since 2004".
He said the park had "a very good relationship with the local community" and was letterboxing homes in Milsons Point and the surrounding suburbs of Kirribilli, McMahons Point and Lavender Bay about the upgrades.
Eight of the new rides, which also include a "family coaster" and a "thrill ride", will be open for the school holidays next July. The new Big Dipper is expected to be operating by November or December 2021.
Luna Park is open Friday to Sunday with COVID-19 restrictions. The park will close from January 27 to mid-June, but the functions and events facilities will remain open.
The Art Deco-style venue is based on the success of the first Luna Park which opened on Coney Island, New York, in 1903.
Local residents launched legal action against the park, arguing the Big Dipper rollercoaster generated too much noise, in the 1990s.
An administrator was later appointed and the park closed in 1996, before reopening in 2004.
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Megan Gorrey is the Urban Affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.