Old Sydney Town theme park on the market after being closed for 15 years
After 15 years since its closure, Old Sydney Town, and the significant site on which it sits is being put up for sale.
The iconic theme park, eight kilometres from Gosford and 77 kilometres north of Sydney, opened on Australia Day 1975 when the then prime minister Gough Whitlam, along with 11,000 spectators, trooped in get a first glimpse of what life was like in convict times.
The goal was to give Australians a flashback into the nation’s colonial past by recreating Sydney in the early 1800s.
Memorable features included watching ‘convicts’ get flogged by the ‘redcoats’, children stopping for photos in the stocks, and getting a taste of the tough standards of colonial schooling.
The mock-colonial buildings have been used for functions and in films in the 15 years since the theme park closed. Photo: Supplied
Many adults who grew up in NSW hold nostalgic memories of school excursions to Old Sydney Town. That of handing over permission slips, loud bus rides with friends, bound for the replica town.
Newcastle local Ty Brennock, now 36, visited Old Sydney Town in 1991 during a Year 3 school excursion.
“The vicious mock-teacher checked behind my ears to see if they were dirty. I thought, ‘how the hell do you get actual dirt behind your ears?,” recalls Brennock. “I remember feeling sorry for my parents, having grown up during ‘the olden days’. I did like watching the convict cop lashes though!”
However, after nearly 30 years and millions of visitors, the last school bus left the site in 2003 when the gates closed because of falling numbers. And although the buildings onsite have since been used as a function venue, and hired privately as movie sets, the property is now being offered for sale.
The 120-hectare site is close to Gosford. Photo: Supplied
CBRE’s Peter Vines said the opportunity to acquire such a substantial footprint in one of the state’s strongest-growing regions would attract widespread buyer interest from local and offshore groups.
As well as Old Sydney Town (25 hectares), the 120-hectare site also includes the Australian Reptile Park (5.4 hectares), which is continuing to operate on a long lease, as well as the remaining 89 hectares that wraps around both sites and is currently being used as farmland.
“Given its vast size, direct proximity to the Somersby industrial area and future rezoning potential, this site could be later developed for a range of outcomes such as rural activities, theme parks, tourism development and residential subdivision,” Mr Vines said.
Expressions of interest close on March 15 at 3pm.
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