Dark history of Sydney’s beating heart

Sydney’s Luna Park is up for sale for the first time in 20 years.

The park, which boasts one of the best views in the city, is expected to fetch about $70m for the buildings and long-term lease over the land.

As owners search for interest from domestic and overseas buyers, NewsWire takes a look back at the dark history of the infamous park.

In the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point sits the city’s oldest amusement park.

The iconic face façade – with its art deco features – welcomes more than a million visitors each year.

The state heritage-listed fun park sits on crown land and has been operating on the Milsons Point foreshore since 1935.

The site began as a workshop for the construction of pieces of the Harbour Bridge before it was transformed into the beloved venue.

It’s based on the success of the first Luna Park, which opened on Coney Island, New York, in 1903 and was the third Luna Park to open in Australia.

The first opened in Melbourne in 1912 and the second in Adelaide in 1930 before the decision was made to relocate the rides from South Australia to Sydney.

The park was an instant hit with locals and visitors.

It remained a popular attraction during World War II and throughout the post-war period.

However, on June 9, 1979, the park would change forever with six boys and one man being killed.

When tragedy struck

It was a chilly winter’s night when a group of young boys, including Richard Carroll, Jonathan Billings, Seamus Rahilly and Michael Johnson, decided to head to the park.

Jason Holman, who had been with the group at the time, told the ABC in 2021 it had been their first night out as a group with parental supervision.

“It was like the biggest thing I’d ever experienced in my life,” he said.

As the night drew to a close and the park began to close, the boys decided they had time for one last ride – the Ghost Train.

The ride, which took place on a 180m track, was one of the most popular rides at the park.

The 2½ minute ride took revellers through a dark tunnel and featured monsters and skeletons. It ended with the carriages going through an imitation fireplace with fake flames.

But on this night, the flames were real.

Jason, who was 12 at the time, had been on a carriage alone, behind his mates.

He watched as each young boy entered through the doors marked “Hell’s Doorway”, never to return again.

Moments into the ride, Jason was pulled off by an attendant who looked panicked.

Smoke quickly began billowing from the ride before flames erupted.

Within minutes a huge section of the ride was engulfed.

“This fire was something different. This fire was just nuts, out of control … and massive, dwarfing us,” Jason said.

By the end of the night, six young boys and one father were dead.

A coronial inquest was unable to find the cause of the fire at the time of the incident.

In 2021, a $1m reward was announced as part of a renewed appeal to the community to come forward with any fresh and compelling information.

How the park transformed

Following the fatal fire, the park was closed. Questions were raised over what would happen to the site, with the government calling for tenders for the site’s development.

A group called Friends of Luna Park fought to save the park and advocated for it to stay open amid proposed redevelopment plans.

The Australian Amusements Associates eventually won the tender and demolished or sold off most of the rides.

In 1982 the park reopened after being transformed and renamed Harbourside Amusement Park.

However, what followed was years of uncertainty, with multiple rides facing engineering issues.

The park was closed down for renovations and repairs in 1988.

Eventually, the tender was transferred to Luna Park Investments Pty Ltd; however, the park was still under construction a year later.

The NSW government then issued an ultimatum to the owners to either reopen by June 1990 or lose the lease.

As the deadline passed, the lease was terminated and the government took control via the Luna Park Reserve Trust.

Unique legislation was then brought in to protect Luna Park and ensure it remained an amusement park.

Over the past three decades the park has gone from strength to strength.

It received a $30m facelift in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic with nine new rides, including the Big Dipper roller-coaster.

The park has hosted big names over the past few years, with American actress Sydney Sweeney heading to there last year with friends while filming romcom Anyone But You.

Pop star Katy Perry raved about Luna Park in an Instagram post in 2018.

“One of my favorite moments on this leg was being able to FINALLY visit @LunaParkSydney,” she wrote.

“I have looked out the window of my various hotel rooms for over 10 years dreaming about this place, the rainbow of glittering color in the middle of mundane grey business buildings … it looked like it was frozen in time, a simpler time. I love that it feels like you’re taking a time machine back to an authentic, incredibly preserved, corporate free, fun factory!”

Singer Pink also has fond memories of the park.

“Luna Park is such a special place to me and my family,” Pink wrote.

“We’ve shared some incredible memories there – it’s one of the places we most look forward to visiting when on tour. I hope Luna Park is around forever and ever and ever!!!”

What is next?

This week the park was listed for sale, with the multimillion-dollar listing expected to generate heavy domestic and international interest.

The park could sell for up to $70m, with CBRE agents Simon Rooney, James Douglas and Paul Ryan running the campaign.

“Trophy assets such as Luna Park are tightly held and rarely traded, with the campaign providing an opportunity to secure a world-class entertainment, event and experience destination with further upside,” Mr Rooney said.

Expressions of interest will close in late-August and the park will continue running, business as usual, during the sales process.

The site is owned by Canadian construction heavyweight Brookfield under a long-term lease that expires in 2040; however, under NSW legislation it must remain an entertainment precinct and cannot be redeveloped into residential dwellings.

Announcing the sale, Luna Park Sydney chief executive John Hughes spoke to the park’s commercial value.

“The business has undergone a strategic transformation, with a $40m upgrade during the last four years adding new rides and immersive experiences, both of which are driving record visitation,” he said.

“Our outstanding management team is pursuing a strong pipeline of new opportunities that will further add value to the business.”