Brisbane Businessman Lodges Tender To Save The Tivoli

There's been an air of trepidation surrounding beloved Brisbane venue The Tivoli and what sorts of expressions of interest we'd be seeing from cashed-up businessfolk in the wake of a call for redevelopment-friendly tenders recently.

Some locals have been so worried as to start up a petition seeking Heritage status for the historic theatre, but maybe we were all overly paranoid to begin with; at least, there's certainly a greater sense of hope in the air with the news that local businessman and music fan Scott Hutchinson — of long-time Qld Music Awards supporters Hutchinson Builders — is to lodge a tender for the property with the plan to retain it as a live music venue.

As Yahoo News reports, Hutchinson — a vocal opponent of the state's revised lockout and service laws — said that his reasons for wanting to maintain The Tivoli's operations were simple: "I'm just heavily interested in music in Brisbane — I love it," he said.

"I don't have horses or fast cars or boats or planes or anything. Going out in Brisbane is my thing."

There's no guarantee, of course, that Hutchinson's proposal will be successful, but it's an incredibly positive early development for the future prospects of the Tiv and one that certainly holds considerable weight ("Our offer is going to be well above valuation, so we're trying to stop [any redevelopment]," he said). Indeed, the Tivoli is almost uniformly regarded as an indelible part of the city's live music tapestry. 

Per Yahoo News, Q Music executive officer Joel Edmonson described the Tivoli as "incredibly important" to the Brisbane community, and losing it at the same time as seeing the harsher lockout legislation rolled out would be "a bit of a double whammy" for the people.

"I think this is where the government's got a responsibility to do what it can and come in and protect not only the heritage of the building itself, but what the building does culturally for Brisbane," he said.

Veteran Aussie muso Ian Moss is the next icon set to grace The Tiv's stage — he performs this weekend on Saturday, 12 March. The venue will also welcome sold-out performances from City & Colour, Gang Of Youths, Sticky Fingers and more in the coming months.