Glass House reveals its hidden secrets

The Glass House Mountains revealed their hidden secrets today when the Sunshine Coast Council officially opened the area’s first Interpretive Centre – a local attraction that is already wowing visitors.

The Interpretive Centre, housed within the $1 million Glass House Visitor Information Centre, has been impressing visitors with its smart technology and fascinating insights into the region – including the true story of how the mountains got their curious name.

In January alone, the visitor centre attracted nearly 2500 visitors – making it one of the most successful on the Sunshine Coast.

The outstanding new Interpretive Centre will build on that success, opening up the region for a whole new audience to enjoy, Division One Councillor Anna Grosskreutz said.

“This is a great introduction to just how much the region has to offer visitors,” she said.

“At last, everyone can understand this special region with new insights and respect for the local attractions, history and environment.”

The Interpretive Centre draws on expert knowledge to give visitors a one-stop shop from which to explore the Glass House region’s iconic attractions. Highlights include:

• The true story of why Captain James Cook named the Glass House Mountains.
• Amazing photos showing their similarity to the glass furnaces of northern England.
• An effortless way to see the panoramic views from the top of five Glass House Mountain lookouts using trackball technology.
• An Explore Kiosk which allows visitors to click their way through tourist drives, walks, climbs, attractions and tours of the region.
• A Kids’ Corner with a giant jigsaw puzzle of dinosaurs that once roamed the Sunshine Coast and a visual display of the birth of a mountain.
• A timeline of how the region developed, from the Indigenous people living there 40,000 years ago through the logging boom of the 1800s, to the precursor to the region’s most famous tourist park, Australia Zoo – Bob Irwin’s Reptile Park of 1973.

Local Government Minister Desley Boyle congratulated Sunshine Coast Council on developing such a successful centre in consultation with community groups.

“The Glass House Mountains Visitor and Interpretive Centre is a great example of why the Queensland Government gets involved in these community-building projects,” she said.

The Queensland Government provided a Regional Centres Program Grant of $475,000 and the Australian Government provided $273,454 (GST inclusive) through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government to construct the Visitor and Interpretive Centre.