The printed metal sign on a grey metal base at the unmarked pedestrian crossing over Bank Road, details the history of what looks like the nearby very unusual sculpture on the street corner outside 'Baker's Delight'. The 'Apparatus' is made of Stainless steel, Copper, Brass, and Sterling Silver. The Historical Marker reads:
APPARAUS FOR TRANSTEMPORAL PRAEDICTO OF
PRODIGIUM FUTURUM
"Long ago, infamous inventor Franz Andriessen worked from a laboratory in one of Graceville's grandest old houses. Though the property has long since been demolished, his work lives on, employing seemingly impossible physics to explore the quantum fabric of time and space.
"Commissioned by Sherwood Shire Council in the early 20th Century, Apparatus for Transtemporal Praedicto of Prodigiun Futurum (ATPPF) was created to predict disasters.
"Surprisingly, it wasn't fire, flood and famine the machine saw, but invasions from Mars and giant radioactive monsters. Temporal snapshots of disastrous futures were captured electromagnetically and displayed in the viewing portals, warning of outcomes that may come to pass. People must have taken heed of these predictions and altered their actions, as it seems that none have come true.
"The predictions, as fanciful as they were, attracted the interest of film-makers and producers to be used as the basis for movie plots. Not many people realise that Godzilla, War of the Worlds and Wizard of Oz originated right here in Graceville inside this machine."
[Printed excerpt from interview with Russell on the story behind the creation of Apparatus for Transtemporal Praedicto of Prodigiun Futurum.]
Included on the Historical Marker is a black and white photo of Franz in his Graceville laboratory.
Address: Corner of Honour Avenue and Bank Road, Graceville, Qld
Visited: 0826 Sunday, 19 May, 2019