After a long and hard fought battle to ensure its survival, the battle to save Melbourne’s The Palace Theatre is over.
The live music venue, which has long been the subject of a community campaign to rescue it from being demolished by property developers, has reached a bitter conclusion, with The Palace set to officially close its doors in a matter of months.
The sad news of the loss of the beloved iconic music venue was issued by the venue’s operators today in a media release.
“It is with deep regret that we, The Palace Theatre Owners, must inform the Australian & international music industry, and the general public, that effective from the 31st May 2014, our business will cease to operate,” reads the official statement which can be viewed in full below.
The operators also reveal that “numerous requests to the landlord to extend our lease have been rejected,” while the long-running live music venue’s landlords await a final decision on approval for new “planning and building permits which to date, have been rejected by both the State Government and Melbourne City Council.” “It is with deep regret that we, The Palace Theatre Owners, must inform [that] effective from the 31st May 2014, our business will cease to operate.”
Despite Planning Minister Matthew Guy rejecting proposals to raze the Palace in order to construct a $180 million luxury hotel complex in January, new scaled-back plans by the property developers Jinshan Investments were submitted to City of Melbourne last month.
Where the Planning Minister’s final rejection re-affirmed his initial complaints that the construction of the five-star hotel development was “too tall” and “in the wrong location“, the new plans for the W Hotel and apartment property proposed a shorter height that is significantly reduced from previously altered plans.
Live music supporters, spearheaded by the Save The Palace campaign, have been fighting the development since plans first surface in July last year and long been lobbying to protect t the 1,855-capacity venue in conjunction with Melbourne Heritage Action.
The latter group have long been pushing for a permanent solution to protect the venue. While the Palace’s facade is protected under current heritage listings, Melbourne Heritage Action have been pushing for an update to the listing that would protect the remainder of the building still at risk, with a key meeting scheduled for next month to discuss plans.
The City Of Melbourne currently has the final decision on the development, while the Napthine Government previously made the unprecedented move of lodging an appeal to challenge the Palace redevelopment before.
In its statement today, Palace Theatre management note they had urged for financial assistance from “both state and local government to seek alternative locations” for the venue away from its current Bourke Street site, but “to date, this avenue of relocating the operations of the Palace Theatre has been unsuccessful.”
Adding that: “The Palace Theatre team is extremely proud to have created a world-class and much sort after venue over the past eight years and to have been a part of its 150 year history. This venue has hosted many hundreds bands which have entertained over two million patrons during these eight years.”
The last gigs booked at the Palace include performances from Darkside, Killswitch Engage, Jake Bugg, Dizzee Rascal, RÜFÜS, and Karnivool, who made an impassioned plea for the venue at their headline show at the Palace earlier this year. Full list of final gigs here.
The sad news of the Palace’s imminent closure arrives following Music Victoria issuing an action plan to support Melbourne’s live music sector. Specifically, with 19 key recommendations to the Victoria Government to better support and nourish the local music industry while Tone Deaf spoke to Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan about the 7 simple things Australian punters can do to better support live music.
Statement From The Palace Theatre
