In the early 1950s, Betsan Coats purchased the site on the corner of Alexandra Parade and Mary Street at Alexandra Headland. Les Cathcart, a local builder, was contracted to build a single storey motel-restaurant which opened as the ‘Boolarong Park Inn’ on December 7, 1957. It became a popular café where you could walk across the road from the beach with sandy feet and a towel wrapped around you to enjoy a special treat. Espresso coffee was new to the Coast and the menu also included snacks, refreshments, entrees and salads served throughout the day and hot meals and ‘take away’ meals served during the lunch hours.
Locals and visitors alike cherish happy memories of these times and the special experiences they enjoyed at functions and special events held in the restaurants at the Boolarong. It became the place to stay if you were visiting and the place to be seen if you were a local.
As the popularity of the venue increased, the building was extended and by 1971 two more storeys and two penthouse suites had been added. In August of the same year the Boolarong was auctioned. It was purchased by J.& P. Williams and E.& F. Rouch and subsequently changed ownership in 1979 and again in 1997. The Boolarong holiday motel and restaurant was demolished in 1998 to make way for the ‘Grand Palais Resort’.
Thanks to Sunshine Coast Council’s Heritage Library Officers for the words and Picture Sunshine Coast for the photos.
