Melbourne Star lights up Docklands again

After nearly five years in the dark, the Melbourne Star has lit up the Docklands skyline once again, marking a symbolic milestone in the long-awaited return of one of Melbourne’s most recognisable landmarks.

The 120-metre observation wheel, which has been unlit since September 6, 2021, switched its lights back on at The District Docklands on July 30 in front of thousands of onlookers, offering the clearest public sign yet that the major attraction is edging closer to reopening to passengers in 2026.

While the wheel is not yet ready to carry passengers, the return of its lights has been widely welcomed in Docklands, where locals have spent recent weeks sharing photos and speculation in community forums as testing has taken place.

For a suburb that has endured a turbulent period since COVID – from empty shopfronts and reduced foot traffic to the long closure of major attractions – the sight of the Star glowing again is more than a technical milestone. It is a reminder that Docklands’ recovery is continuing, and that one of the precinct’s most visible pieces of identity still has a future.

The relighting was also given a deeply personal touch, with 12-year-old Charli-Koko Vance and her mum, Mel Olsen, invited to switch the lights back on through children’s charity Very Special Kids. Charli-Koko lives with a rare chromosome deletion and complex health conditions and is a regular patient at the Royal Children’s Hospital, while her mum is living with terminal cancer.

When the Star’s lights went out in 2021, families and staff from the hospital reportedly reached out to ask whether they could be turned back on, because children watched the Docklands landmark from their wards at night.

“When you’re spending time in hospital, those lights become more than just lights,” Ms Olsen said. “They’re something familiar and comforting to look for. Being asked to switch them on together means the world to us, and it’s a memory we’ll treasure forever.”

Skyline Attractions, the Melbourne-based family business managing the wheel’s return, said the story reflected the emotional significance of the Star beyond its role in the skyline.

“When we learned children at the Royal Children’s Hospital used to look out for Melbourne Star’s lights from their hospital rooms, we knew we had to make this moment for them,” Skyline Attractions managing director Jay Jones said.

“People often talk about what Melbourne Star means to the city’s skyline, but the messages we received reminded us that for some families it was much more personal than that.”

The return of the lights follows extensive engineering and refurbishment work aimed at bringing the attraction back safely after years out of service.

According to Skyline Attractions, an observation wheel of this scale cannot simply be switched back on. Major control systems have been rewired, drive towers restored, and 32 motors and their running gear removed, replaced and serviced. Inside the cabins, clutches and motors have been removed, inspected and remanufactured, while air-conditioning, CCTV and intercom systems have been replaced or restored.

The pneumatic system has also been replaced, fire systems brought back to compliance, lifts serviced, CCTV upgraded, and new interiors are being installed at the entry and loading areas, including a bar, café and gift shop.

The lights themselves are not the same system Melburnians remember. The original lighting network has been fully replaced with a new system capable of full-colour animation and synchronised sequences, allowing the Star to be programmed for events, seasons and moments of civic significance.

When passengers return, the cabin experience will also be refreshed with a new voiceover, in-cabin screens and updated storytelling developed with First Nations voices to better reflect Melbourne’s landscape and cultural history.

Mr Jones said the focus had been on safety, compliance and bringing the landmark back “the right way”.

“While there is still work to do before we welcome passengers back, the lights are a testament to the progress being made and our commitment to delivering an attraction Melbourne can be proud of again,” he said. •