During World War II military camps were established here on the Gold Coast (Australia) near Miami, Burleigh Heads and at Kirra.
At the end of the war many of these army buildings were left abandoned and, with good quality building materials in short supply, the local community were quick to see the value of the timber and fibro structures left behind by the army.
After the end of World War II two recycled army huts were used for the construction of the Miami Ice works which opened in 1947 on Kratzmann Avenue in Miami near North Burleigh Beach.
At the time of construction, Miami had few commercial premises with the 1949 Post Office directory (no google back then!) mentioning the ice works, two motor garages, one storekeeper and the Miami Hotel in the immediate area.
The signage along the length of the Gold Coast Highway became well known and the Miami Ice building with its mural of a sun wearing sunglasses, known as Mr Sunny, was a popular site for photographers.
In 1988 John Farnham used the ice works as a backdrop to the music video for his song ‘Two Strong Hearts’.
After many decades of ownership, in 2013 the Grevis family sold the property. Despite a number of campaigns to preserve the building, the machinery was removed and the buildings were demolished in November 2013.
Here’s a photo of it then ...
And now ...
It’s now the site of a luxury apartment building and, in good taste, they’ve kept the name, Mr Sunny as the apartment logo and have some of the old machinery on display.
I, and many others, still use it as a landmark when giving directions.
