No More Apartments: Petition Seeks Heritage Status For Brisbane's Tivoli Theatre

Queenslanders have something of a reputation for their laid-back nature, but that apparently doesn't extend to their live music venues.

In the wake of last week's news that beloved Brisbane venue the Tivoli Theatre faces possible redevelopment as part of its sale terms, Redcliffe man and live-music fan Wayne Wilson has initiated a petition on online activism platform change.org calling on state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her Labor government to prevent any such action by bestowing Heritage status upon the premises.

In his plea to the Palaszczuk government, Wilson points to the Tivoli's versatile role in catering to a broad spectrum of creative tastes, and indicates that the local community could not, or should not have to, weather its removal from the entertainment landscape. 

He opines, "We cannot revisit Cloudland", which is not (just) an obvious call about the contemporary venue of the same name, but a reference to the controversial demolition and residential redevelopment of the iconic Bowen Hills space known as Cloudland Dance Hall (nee Luna Park), in 1982. Infamously, the venue's demolition happened overnight and without a permit, despite it being listed in the National Trust.

"The Tivoli Theatre has been home to a large percentage of Brisbane music, theatre and alternative entertainment," the petition reads. "Everyone has seen a great band here.

"The Tivoli is again under threat from developers. We cannot revisit Cloudland. I call on the Queensland Government to heritage list this iconic building and venue, to avoid Brisbane losing another classic venue.

"Please, Premier of Queensland, with your government's support you can stop this happening."

At the time of writing, the petition is just over 400 signatures shy of making its goal of 2500. If you want to lend your support to preserve the Tivoli, head this way and sign away.

Alternatively, you could always head to the Department Of Environment's website and directly initiate a Heritage nomination for the venue here.

However, you may have to wait a while for success — nominations for the assessment period of 2016-17 closed on 18 February, just a few days before the news broke about the Tivoli's expressions of interest campaign.