Iconic yellow submarine to return to Geraldton after restoration thanks to Rotary Club of Batavia Coast

Plans are afloat to reintroduce Geraldton’s iconic yellow submarine as a local landmark.

It’s a cherished object many people of certain generations still strongly associate with Geraldton and now there is a proposal in the works to return the refurbished sub to a public space thanks to a collaboration between the Rotary Club of the Batavia Coast and City of Greater Geraldton.

It first started as a grey submarine built in Dongara in 1968 — the same year The Beatles released their movie Yellow Submarine.

Speculation about the purpose of the sub remains, but one thing is for sure — it is looking to making Geraldton home.

The iconic piece was given to the Rotary Club of the Batavia Coast in 2018 after sitting in a council depot yard gathering dust and rust.

A Rotary Club committee dedicated to restoring the beloved submarine has spent the past six years breathing new life into it and the time has come to put it back on display — after a makeover believed to be worth about $40,000.

It was once displayed on the Geraldton foreshore near where the current Sail Inn is but now there are proposals to return the sub to its original site or near the Multipurpose Centre in Stow Gardens, as a northern entry statement at the 440 Roadhouse or at the Eastern Breakwater jetty, where tourists hop on and off to the Abrolhos Islands.

Insurance costs for the Rotary Club were unfeasible and ownership has been transferred back to the city, although the sub is currently docked in the back yard of a restoration committee member.

“The city is currently finalising a site selection study that will be put before council in the coming months to deliberate on ownership and where the yellow submarine’s next berth will be,” City of Greater Geraldton mayor Jerry Clune said.

Mr Clune said the Rotary Club had done a “fantastic job of restoring this icon to its former glory”.

The Rotary Club of the Batavia Coast was contacted for comment.