JINSHAN INVESTMENTS OPERATING WITHIN ITS RIGHTS
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The owner of Melbourne's Palace Theatre says all work carried out at the venue this week is legal and has been carried out in line with feedback on the heritage value of the building.
Jinshan Investments said it had consulted legal and planning experts prior to commencing the internal works, receiving confirmation that any non-structural alterations to the venue's interior are lawful and permitted under the current framework.
The developer is undertaking works to improve site safety, which had become compromised in the period following the departure of the former the former music venue tenant. Some internal elements have had to be removed in order to carry out this work.
Jinshan Investments said it had been informed that the interior had been so dramatically altered it held little heritage value.
It said the perception the building is in pristine heritage condition was unfortunately not the case and that over the past 100 years it has been dramatically altered, with much of its original features and history stripped by previous owners, including the Metro Nightclub which added steel staircases and galleries that dramatically transformed the interior in the 1980s.
Built in 1912, the venue has been a theatre, cinema, church nightclub and live music venue known by the names of Brennan's Amphitheatre, Apollo Theatre, Melbourne Revival Centre, National Theatre, Metro Nightclub and Palace Theatre.
The developer acknowledges many Melburnians have a strong emotional connection to the Palace Theatre and is considering how elements of the venue's history may be recognised in the future development of the site.
An application to develop a boutique hotel on the site of the building has been submitted to Melbourne City Council, with a determination yet to be made.
Heritage Victoria has ruled on two separate occasions that the venue does not hold sufficient cultural value to be protected.