The Palace Theatre to close this May

The venue's owner, China-based Jinshan Investments, has apparently made plans to demolish the iconic venue while waiting for permission to build an apartment and hotel complex, and has informed the venue’s operators to vacate. 
 

A statement just released by the venue’s operators:
 

“Numerous requests to the landlord to extend our lease have been rejected. The landlord has made this decision while still awaiting approval of planning and building permits which to date, have been rejected by both the State Government and Melbourne City Council.”   
 

Since last year, a campaign has been running to encourage the preservation of the the 1912 three-storey building. A crucial meeting is scheduled for next month which will deal with its heritage listing. Melbourne’s live music community has been lobbying to save the music venue which has over 450,000 patrons come through the venue each year. At this point, it is clear that the State Government has to step in and mandatorily buy the building from Jinshan, which had purchased it for $13 million back in 2012. The Palace Theatre management, in its statement today, said that it had earlier seeked for help from the State Government and local government authorities to help it re-locate from Bourke Street to a new location, but this financial aid was not forthcoming. It also added,

“The Palace Theatre team is extremely proud to have created a world-class and much sort after venue over the past eight years and to have been a part of its 150 year history. This venue has hosted many hundreds bands which have entertained over two million patrons during these eight years.”