“The top end of Bourke Street is full of possibilities. It currently lacks energy and is quite tired.” So reads the proposal by property developers who want to raze Melbourne’s Palace Theatre to develop luxury apartments at the site of the 2,000 capacity live music venue in submissions made to the Victorian State Government in June.
The ongoing campaign to save the Palace may have diminished in the weeks following Victorian Planning Minister Matthew Guy’s comments that property investment firm Jinshan Investments were “dreaming” about their submissions being approved in their current form. “It is too tall, it is in the wrong location,” said the Minister in early July.
But the venue’s future is still uncertain while the property developers can still sculpt and re-mould their submissions until they satisfy the City Of Melbourne’s requirements. Community action to ensure the secure future of the Palace Theatre remains a chief priority to the nearly 29,000 members who ‘like’ the ‘Save The Palace Theatre’ Facebook group, who have been urging supporters to make formal objections to the City Of Melbourne Planning register against demolishing the venue in order to construct Australia’s first ‘W Hotel’: a 205-room, 145 apartment complex built across 20,000 square metres.
An alarming rendering of the hotel development has turned up online, posted by the Melbourne Heritage Action (MHA) group on their Facebook page, as FasterLouder points out, which shows what the top-end of Bourke Street would look like should the plans be approved (and the developers win). “Here’s a rendering we’ve obtained showing the podium proposed to replace the (Palace) theatre and its interiors,” reads the post.
“We’ve discovered that the development would also see part of the 3 storey terrace shops next door demolished, ruining their symmetry, all so a laneway can we widened for use as a taxi drop off point,” adds the MHA post.
The MHA and the ‘Save The Palace’ group are also pushing for another 6,000 or so signatures for their online petition, bringing it to their goal of 30,000 ahead of a rally to take place at a to be determined location on August 31st in Melbourne against the development of the 31 storey Hotel W complex.
Despite the Planning Minister’s previous dismissal of the luxury apartment proposal, his comments aren’t confirmation that the Palace is safe from further encroaching development plans, as Greens MP Adam Bandt recently pointed out. “Even if he does (not approve submissions), it won’t be the last development application of this kind to come across his desk – we need better systems to protect the cultural value of our great live music venues,” said Bandt.
(The property developers’ original artistic rendering of the Hotel W)
The Palace is partially listed as a Melbourne Heritage site, but only its facade is protected as heritage while its interior remains vulnerable. MHA emphasises that objections made to the City of Melbourne should focus on heritage controls, “even if only D grade and interior (are) not officially listed.”
As Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan emphasises, it is “one of the few medium sized venues that can host the bigger Australian acts as well as international touring bands. Its absence would leave a huge gap for 2,000 capacity standing room venues,” leaving only the likes of the 1,050 capacity Billboard, the 1,500 capacity Forum Theatre, and the 2,896 seats of St Kilda’s The Palais for promoters left to choose from, either downsizing or upsizing their capacities, while competing with other cultural events like the comedy and film festival.
Perhaps it is time for the National Live Music Office, formed through the financial backing of $560,000 from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to step in and take action…
