Adrenaline rush, light and sound show planned for Mornington cable car
A roller coaster-like luge ride, 360-degree viewing platforms and an immersive light and sound show are part of $25 million plans by Rich Lister Peter Gunn and NAB director Simon McKeon to turn Mornington Peninsula’s cable car ride into one of the country’s most successful tourist attractions.
Billionaire investor Mr Gunn and Mr McKeon, who as well as his director duties was chancellor of Monash University, jointly own Arthurs Seat Eagle, a gondola ride that takes visitors on a 20-minute scenic swoop over Arthurs Seat State Park, about two hours from Melbourne.
The two businessmen are bankrolling a fresh development proposal lodged with the Victorian Planning Authority that will also include a luge ride attraction, new observation tower at the ride’s Arthurs Seat summit and an experiential sound, vision and light show showcasing the peninsula at its Dromana base, about 300 metres below.
“The clear feedback from locals and visitors is that they want more things to do,” Arthurs Seat Eagle CEO Matthew Mulkearns told The Australian Financial Review.
One of the biggest attractions – especially for adrenaline junkies – will be the luge ride, which will take patrons on winding route through the bushland below the gondolas.
Mr Mulkearns said the luge ride would not be a concrete karting track like at New Zealand’s Queenstown, but a lighter-touch, more sustainable offering similar to the Alpine Coaster attraction at Thredbo Alpine Resort, which offers patrons a zippy ride along a roller coaster-like track.
The observation tower would be built at the highest point at Arthurs Seat and would offer “quite spectacular” 360-degree views of Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay, Mr Mulkearns said.
Construction is expected to begin in about a year’s time, should the masterplan get the green light from the VPA.
The project will be completed in the stages, with the experiential centre at the base to be built first and the whole development taking about three years.
Mr Mulkearns said the past three years, when the tourist attraction had performed strongly, had given the two owners confidence to invest more money in upgrading the facility.
Fires, pandemic take a toll
The Arthurs Seat Eagle gondola opened in December 2016 at a cost of $20 million, replacing an earlier chairlift system that was built in 1960 by the late Czech-born engineer Dr Vladimir Hajek, and which operated until 2006.
Despite excitement around its opening, Arthurs Seat Eagle racked up a series of losses before it fell victim to the late-2019 and early-2020 bushfires then COVID-19 restrictions.
After a dispute between shareholders, the business was placed into administration in March 2020. After a legal tussle, Mr Gunn and Mr McKeon emerged with 50 per cent each.
Mr McKeon, a former Rio Tinto director, AMP chairman and Macquarie investment banker, and Mr Gunn, a transport, logistics and property magnate worth $1.79 billion (according to the 2024 Financial Review Rich List), submitted the winning bid to build the new chairlift attraction in 2010. It took another five years for construction to begin.
Mr McKeon’s investment was driven in part by nostalgia – as a boy he frequently rode the chairlift after his parents bought a holiday home near the Dromana base.
Mr Mulkearns said the proposal had received a favourable response when presented to the Victorian government architect panel.
“The Arthurs Seat Eagle is a place of great pride for Mornington Peninsula locals and is deserving of continual investment and enhancement given its contribution to our state’s vibrant tourism sector,” said former professional tennis player and state MP for Nepean Sam Groth.
