Regent closure date fixed
According to a Tweet and Facebook update from Brisbane movie guru Des Partridge, the Regent will close on June 15 after farewell program of shorts and specials on Sunday, June 6, starting at 5pm. Remember folks, you can still voice your protest by contacting the Premier, the mayor and others - addresses are on here. Other theatres around Australia and the world have been restored to their original glory, but Brisbane likes to demolish its cultural icons (think Festival Hall and Cloudland, Her Majesty's , the Metro, the Paris and all the others). And, remember, despite its unsympathetic makeover in the 1980s, it's still Brisbane's only original Hollywood-style picture palace. Under the developer's proposal, everything beyond the grand staircase will go - including the Showcase cinema and the ornate bar area.
- debritz's blog
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Comments
ISPT/Multiplex can still be stopped
Really, ISPT and Multiplex must be proceeding with the re-development out of sheer bloody-mindedness (or malice, even) at this point... I cannot fathom how anyone could believe that is a good, rational business decision to put up yet another office tower in the Brisbane CBD, when the market is already saturated with office space for lease (including properties like the Riverside Centre), when Australia's economy is in danger of stalling (we're an export economy and our primary and secondary markets are heading for a double-dip recession - you don't need to be an economist to figure out what that means) and when Brisbane is having major problems with traffic congestion (as a result of poor planning and poor investment in public transport infrastructure).
Fortunately, while they have "in principle" Development Approval from the Brisbane City Council (which would have been almost impossible for the Council to deny them under Queensland legislation), they are still a Building Approval application away from being able to take so much as a wrecking-bar to the building, and the BCC have specified in the DA that ISPT/Multiplex are to work within the Burra Charter guidelines (http://www.icomos.org/burra_charter.html). I hope everyone who cares about the Regent will take some time time to look at these guidelines (because the development as planned is totally incongruent with the heritage value and cultural associations of the site), and submit an objection to the Building Approval when ISPT/Multiplex lodge it.
Gordon Gekko would be proud
Stupid senseless avoidable waste motivated by shameless greed. It was only recently that the pollies were rabbiting on about how they wanted the CBD to be more people- and less car-friendly yet they're allowing this travesty. From the signage I've seen in both the CBD and Valley, the last thing we need is more overpriced office space. Our architectural history is vanishing for the pursuit of profit. MARY POPPINS should be playing in Brisbane, not Melbourne. A fully restored Regent would bring some style and class into the inner city. Money being spent to see long-running, profitable and successful shows staged in Sydney and Melbourne will continue to flow south when it should be staying here. The pointless destruction of what could once again be a special and treasured place for the people of Brisbane and Queensland both now and in the future makes me sick.