The proposed Grollo Super Tower Source: News Corp Australia
IMAGINE how different Melbourne’s streetscape would look if one of the world’s tallest towers was in the Docklands.
That was the ambitious dream by property developer Bruno Grollo, who proposed a 680m high tower at Victoria Dock.
But it never got off the ground.
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It’s one of many city changing plans that never saw the light of day.
Like Essendon playing its home matches at the 80,000 seat Showgrounds stadium or one of the world’s great theme parks coming to Werribee.
Bruno Grollo looks at an artist's impression of world's tallest building to be built in Docklands. Source: News Corp Australia
Ice Pick tower
It was to be the world’s tallest tower.
Plans were unveiled in 1995 for a 137-storey skyscraper to tower above the Docklands. The 680m high building would cost $1.7 billion.
Named Melbourne Tower or Grollo Tower, it was coined the Ice Pick because of its design.
The proposal was scrapped in 2001 when the Docklands Authority rejected it.
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An artists impression of what the Werribee theme park would look like Source: Supplied
Werribee theme park
A theme park to rival world-renowned Disneyland and Sea World was once planned for Werribee.
Owners had pencilled in some of the world’s biggest and best adventure rides for the $220 million park, to be called African Safari World and set in the grounds of Werribee Open Range Zoo.
But the state government rejected the plan because the cost to taxpayers would be too great.
A Roy cartoon of a roller-coaster ride through the proposed theme park site at Werribee Open Plains Zoo. Source: Supplied
Original plans for Parliament House which feature dome on the roof that was never built. Source: News Corp Australia
Parliament House dome
Former premier Jeff Kennett revived an idea to add a dome to Parliament House that had been proposed when it was constructed.
The $30 million plan was opposed by Labor and the unions and never got off the ground.
Mr Kennett told the Herald Sun in 2008: “It was a great pity that we never put the dome on and I still regret it today.”
“The unions refused to give us a guarantee that they would give us a consistency of work and I thought, given my relationship with the unions, given all the reforms we’d put through, they could have kept the parliamentarians out of the building for 10 years,” he said.
“Once the Labor Party failed to back us I said, ‘what’s the point of doing it?”
Crown Casino Ferris wheel
As if Crown isn’t glitzy enough already — imagine if it had a glass-covered Ferris wheel and roller-coaster.
That was the plan in 1993. The plans were eventually scaled back, but much of what was proposed at the time — a five-star hotel, shops, restaurants and bars was built.
An artists impression of the 80,000 seat stadium planned for the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. Source: News Corp Australia
Showgrounds stadium
They were huge plans to build one of Australia’s premier sporting stadiums at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
In the mid-1990s a proposal for a covered 80,000 seat stadium were unveiled.
The state-of-the-art stadium would host at least 27 AFL games a year plus 20 national soccer matches and 10 rugby league games, according to plans at the time.
The Essendon Football Club and National Soccer Federation were quick to support the plan.
A smaller stadium was of course built at Docklands instead.
The facade of Flinders Street Station facade. Source: News Limited
Flinders Street Station
Over the years many people have come up with ideas to redevelop Flinders St station. One came in 1996 with a $700 million plan to build over platforms and turn the station into a multi-level transport hub.
The proposal included 200 specialty shops, restaurants, cafes, galleries and family-oriented entertainment areas, but it was never built.
Tourist tram
A riverside tourist tram service connecting the city to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Southbank was proposed in 1993 as a key to revitalising Melbourne.
Under the plan the Jolimont railyards were to be opened up for public space with the Yarra River being broadened to form a series of lakes.
An image of the $1 billion monorail being proposed by a group of businessman as a link to Melbourne Airport. Source: Supplied
Airport rail link
It has been talked about by governments for decades, but we are still yet to see the first track laid down for a rail line to Melbourne Airport.
There have been many suggestions over the years, with the boldest plan coming earlier this year when a group proposed building a $1 billion monorail high above the Tullamarine Freeway.
The Napthine Government has committed to building a train link to take passengers from the CBD to Melbourne Airport in 25 minutes.
The last game at Waverley Park between Hawthorn v Sydney in 1999 Source: News Limited
Waverley Park rail line
When Waverley Park was built in the 1960s it was always thought that a train line would be built to link it to central Melbourne, but it never happened.
A lack of public transport was one of the key reasons Waverley shut down in 2000.
After its closure is was suggested that a monorail linking the stadium to suburban railway stations be built to bring Melburnians to a proposed sports theme park at the derelict stadium.
The proposed park would be called Sports World and included plans for an elite velodrome
and diving pool and space for cricket and football on the existing Waverley Park oval.
Doncaster Rail advocates dressed up in 1888 gear, the year the railway line was first mooted. Source: Supplied
Doncaster rail line
A rail line to Doncaster was first muted in 1888 and has had supporters ever since. In the 1970s a reservation for the line was put in place in the median of the Eastern Freeway and it remains today as far as Bulleen. But the line has never been built. As recently as last year a study was conducted into its feasibility.
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