RESTAURANTS, cellar doors, chocolatier, cliff climbing gym, gondola chairlift and skyrail - the overhaul of the Penny Royal site just got one big step closer.
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The latest development application submitted by the JAC Group to the Launceston City Council has provided the first artist's impression of what the revamped site may look like.
The proposal is to feature three restaurants, two cellar doors, a wine bar, a whisky distillery, a chocolatier, a cliff-climbing gym and a convict-themed animatronic underground ride based on the bushranger Matthew Brady and bounty hunter John Batman.
There will also be a model of the ship, the Tamar, which chased down Brady and the two ships he stole, for visitors to go on and learn about his life.
The gondola chairlift and skyrail remain very much in the plans, with company founder Joe Chromy currently in Cairns revisiting the north Queensland city's skyrail venture.
JAC Group managing director Dean Cocker likened the development to a mini version of the The Rocks district in Sydney but with adventure-orientated activities.
"The restaurants and wine bars will retain the existing stone buildings on the outside but all of the brick walls facing the lagoon will be demolished to make way for glass sliding doors that open out on to new boardwalks for waterside dining," Mr Cocker said yesterday.
"The interiors of the buildings will also have contemporary fit-outs and one trendy restaurant will even have a glass floor over an underground wine cellar."
Mr Cocker said he hoped that if approved, construction would begin in January and the precinct, which will be free to the public, could open in time for Christmas 2015. He said the development application for the enclosed gondola chairlift to operate from the Penny Royal to Cataract Gorge was likely to be submitted sometime next year, while he has also been in touch with two international manufacturers about skyrail designs. If the plans go ahead as proposed, the design is expected to be ready for public consultation in the first half of next year.