A Willy Wonka-style tourist attraction has been put forward in the Tasmanian capital for a chocolate factory that’s had its doors closed to the public for almost a decade.
Plans for the Cadbury factory at 100 Cadbury Road, Claremont, north of the Hobart CBD, include the world’s tallest “glass-and-a-half” chocolate fountain.
Also planned for the $100-million vision from Simon Currant and Associates in conjunction with Cadbury are a 3D time tunnel, build your own bar, cafe, playground, dessert restaurant and emporium.
Cumulus and Art Processors created the design for the site, just down the River Derwent from MONA, that include a new building, walkways, cycleway extension and ferry terminal for a service connecting the two attractions.
The 9.93ha site is zoned for general industrial.
Factory tours and tourism at the chocolate factory ended in 2015 after nearly 50 years.
The proposal for the Cadbury Experience may look like a world of pure imagination to some critics, but it has won support, including the Tasmanian Liberals, who made a pre-election promise of $12 million to get the project shovel ready.
Currant said if approved construction would begin next year and the attraction would welcome its first guests in 2026.
“Cadbury is already a loved and valued contributor to the Tasmanian economy,” Currant said.
“The Chocolate Experience at Cadbury will elevate it even further and add a new experience element, ensuring its sustainability and vibrance into the future.”
Cadbury Claremont is the largest chocolate factory in the Southern Hemisphere, producing more than 65,000 tonnes, 200 million blocks, of chocolate annually.
It has more than 450 staff and uses 130 million litres of milk from around 50 North West Tasmanian dairy farms.
Established in 1921, the factory and surrounding model village estate was Cadbury’s first business expansion outside the United Kingdom.
The village was bsed on of Cadbury’s Bournville estate in Birmingham and followed Quaker ideology, providing housing for workers, shops, sporting facilities, a school, a meeting house and parkland, complete with purple benches.[
Cadbury’s Claremont is currently owned by the multi-national conglomerate Mondelez International, which purchased Cadbury in 2010.
