By a staff reporter
The group trying to save the Regent Theatre in Queen Street City has been dealt a blow with the Queensland Heritage Council rejecting their application that the Regent’s Cinema One and associated bar area should be included in the Queensland heritage register.
But the group has not given up the fight, with a spokesperson saying there was still a good chance the two areas could be preserved.
The Queensland Heritage Council recently announced there would be no extension to the heritage listing boundary for the theatre. QHC chair David Eades said an application had been received to enter the Regent’s Cinema One and associated bar area in the Queensland heritage register.
“Unlike the Regent’s entrance foyer and grand staircase which was entered in the register in 1992, the cinema and bar do not meet the criteria for heritage listing,” he said.
“The cinema and bar were built in 1978-80 and decorated with replicas and some parts salvaged from the Regent’s demolition. “Although the cinema conjures up some of the style of the original Regent, it doesn’t come close to the scale, atmosphere and flamboyance of what Brisbane lost nearly 30 years ago.”
Mr Eades said the Heritage Council met with the applicants who submitted the nomination, the developer’s representatives and others and closely considered all aspects of the proposal.
“This was not a decision that the Heritage Council took lightly,” he said. “But the Heritage Council must weigh nominations against specific criteria and consider the significance to the state as a whole.”
Mr Eades said the latest QHC decision would not alter the heritage-listing of the Regent’s entrance foyer and grand staircase. “We can all be assured that any development applications for the Regent site will conserve the state heritage-listed sections of the building.
“There is a great opportunity for new life to be breathed into this heritage place for the enjoyment of all Queenslanders now and into the future.”
The Queensland Heritage Council is the state’s independent peak body and advisor on heritage matters and determines what places are entered in the Queensland heritage register.
The Save the Regent Group was deeply disappointed by the decision, a spokesperson said. “However, our lawyers are currently pursuing an appeal against the original council decision to allow the redevelopment of the Regent. We are hopeful of a good outcome from this for the sake of Brisbane’s heritage.”
