Dreamland (Melbourne amusement park)

Last updated

Dreamland
Robsons figure eight st kilda.jpg
Robson's Figure Eight, a side friction roller coaster which operated at Dreamland.
Location St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates 37°52′05″S144°58′35″E / 37.868036°S 144.976369°E / -37.868036; 144.976369
StatusDefunct
Opened2 November 1906 (1906-11-02)
Closed1907 (1907) [1] [2] [3]
OwnerEric Salambo [4]
Operated bySalambo Dreamland Amusements Ltd. [4]
Operating seasonSummer
Attractions
Total10+
Roller coasters1

Dreamland was an Australian amusement park in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which was opened on 2 November 1906. [5] [6] The park was unsuccessful, only operating for a single season. [7] [8] It was demolished in 1909, [9] except for the Figure Eight rollercoaster which remained open until 1914. [10] [11] The park was located on the site of the current Luna Park Melbourne and Palais Theatre.

Contents

History

The site of Dreamland in St Kilda was described by early settlers as swampland. The area's first use was as a tip, however when St Kilda's popularity increased as a seaside playground, the swamp was filled in and later became the site of a number of small independent amusements. [12]

In the early 1900s, Eric Salambo and the Salambo and Ollivettes New Wonders Company toured Australia and New Zealand from England. Salambo had been the general manager of Wonderland City in Sydney, and secured the lease to a site in St Kilda in 1906 to build his own amusement park. [4]

Dreamland opened on 2nd November 1906, operated by the newly founded Salambo Dreamland Amusements Ltd. [6] The park had been inspired by the amusement parks of Coney Island, most notable its recreation of Luna Park's A Trip to the Moon. [8]

The park was overall unsuccessful, in part related to the poor quality of attractions and general public discontent. Dreamland closed after one operating season, and wasn't demolished until 1909. [7] In 1912, Luna Park Melbourne was opened on its site, which remains operating to this day.

Past attractions

See also

References

  1. ↑ Marshall, Sam (2005) [First published 1995]. Luna Park, Just for Fun (2nd ed.). Luna Park Reserve Trust. p. 34. ISBN   0 646 44807 2.
  2. ↑ Luna Park: Australia's pleasure land, Author: Charlie Farrugia, Dec, 03 2012
  3. ↑ Montagnana-Wallace, Neil (2012). Luna Park, Since 1912. Bounce Books. p. 5. ISBN   9780987214898.
  4. 1 2 3 "GENERAL GOSSIP. The Salambos". The Referee . No. 1188. Sydney. 11 August 1909. p. 16. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "DREAMLAND". Table Talk . No. 1108. Victoria, Australia. 18 October 1906. p. 20. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  6. 1 2 "AMUSEMENTS". The Leader . No. 2652. Victoria, Australia. 3 November 1906. p. 22. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  7. 1 2 Marshall, Sam (2005) [First published 1995]. Luna Park, Just for Fun (2nd ed.). Luna Park Reserve Trust. p. 34. ISBN   0 646 44807 2.
  8. 1 2 Montagnana-Wallace, Neil (2012). Luna Park, Since 1912. Bounce Books. p. 5. ISBN   9780987214898.
  9. ↑ "Advertising". The Argus . No. 19, 179. Melbourne. 7 January 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 28 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "History". Lunapark.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 October 2005.
  11. 1 2 "THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1906". The Argus . No. 18, 800. Melbourne. 18 October 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "Ups and downs of Melbourne's historic funpark". The Age. 17 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 "AMUSEMENTS". The Age . No. 16, 118. Victoria, Australia. 7 November 1906. p. 6. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "DREAMLAND". Table Talk . No. 1117. Victoria, Australia. 20 December 1906. p. 18. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "DREAMLAND". Table Talk . No. 1111. Victoria, Australia. 8 November 1906. p. 20. Retrieved 27 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.