Regent Theatre (Brisbane)

Origins

It was constructed as the first and only American-style picture palace, reflecting the opulence and grandeur of the great Hollywood era, to be built in Queensland, and was one of many operated by Hoyts in Australia.

Other significant Regent Cinemas around Australia were the Regent in George Street, Sydney, now demolished, the Regent on the Rundle Mall in Adelaide which is now converted into a shopping mall and the Regent Melbourne on Collins Street, restored in the 1990s and now a major successful live theatre for Melbourne. The Regent Theatre, Dunedin in New Zealand was adapted for live performances in the 1970s and continues to be used for those and as a cinema. Smaller Regent cinemas include the Regent in downtown Ballarat, Victoria, now remodelled into a multi-screen complex.

The picture palaces were built to imitate Hollywood's Golden Era and were designed to function as a cinema and theatre. The Regent was designed by Melbourne architect, Charles N. Hollinshed, with assistance from the Brisbane-based Richard Gailey Junior and Aaron Bolot. It was erected in 1929 and opened on 8 November. Construction costs totaled ₤300,000.

Architecture

The Regent's entrance foyer is on the narrow Queen Street site, and the auditorium was constructed on the broader site in Elizabeth Street. The original interior decoration was a mixture of Spanish Gothic and Romanesque. The mezzanine foyer contains a white marble staircase, made from Queensland marble, along with vaulted cathedral ceilings. A total of 2,600 patrons were able to be seated in air-conditioned comfort.

The Theatre in the 70s to the 2000s

In 1978 the Regent was marked for demolition by Hoyts and The University of Queensland Mayne Trust, but after lobbying from the Save the Regent campaign, a partial compromise was met. The original building was saved in its entirety and only the interior decorations, mostly being plaster, were removed. A large portion of these interior decorations were later incorporated into the Regent cinemas. The marble staircase and vaulted ceilings of the entrance hall, grand foyer and mezzanine foyer were saved, complete with ceiling murals and many other plaster castings.

The four Regent cinemas were built inside the original 1929 building, as a stand-alone structure. Cinema One, later known as the showcase cinema was created using the original decorations, saved from the original theatre auditorium.

In 1992, the building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register.

The basement car park was rebuilt, housing what was for many years until 2003, the largest McDonald's restaurant in Australia.

The Regent held the honour of housing the largest screens for a cinema in Brisbane for many years, and retained its position as the most popular cinema well into the 2000s.

In 2001, Hoyts and Greater union merged, forcing Hoyts to surrender its activity on the site due to an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ruling. The cinemas were then operated by Greater Union for a period. In 2003, the building was leased by Birch, Carroll & Coyle who refurbished cinemas three and four, giving them two separate colour schemes of blue for cinema three and red for cinema four.

When Birch Carrol Coyle rebuilt the Myer Centre cinema, they lost all interest in maintaining the Regent and allowed the cinemas to run into disrepair. They quickly fell out of favour, leaving the property owners to question the future viability of the site.

In 2007, the University of Queensland Mayne Trust sold the property to the Industry Superannuation Property Trust who then commissioned multinational property developer Brookfield Multiplex to redevelop it.

Office tower development

The heritage listed Regent Theatre historic facade, entry and mezzanine foyer are to be retained in a redevelopment of the site. The majority of the building was controversially demolished to make way for a forty storey office tower and carpark. The Bligh Labor state government has been criticised for the lack of consultation and intervention regarding the decision, similar to the circumstances of the demolition of the original theatre.

Following several warnings, in March 2012 the Regent Tower developers Brookfield Multiplex, were fined by the Brisbane City Council for breaching project guidelines. This came after the revelation that historic Grotesques were destroyed on the Elizabeth Street portion of the building. The controversy centred around the broken promise by the Planning Minister in the state government, Stirling Hinchliffe who said that the items would be preserved.

A new "Save The Regent" group was formed in 2008, reminiscent of the original group formed in the 1970s. The group staged a public battle to save the Regent on the grounds that it continued to perform its original function, screening motion pictures, and that much of the original fabric remained at the site. Several public protests were held including a street march to the building's Elizabeth St facade.

The battle was lost and the Regent was demolished between June 2011 and March 2012. The office tower will not have any cinemas but will contain three multifunction auditoria which can possibly be used as cinemas. These are only permitted to operate on weekends and include a new Queensland Film and Television Centre.

In May 2013, Brisbane Development news site reported that the Regent Tower development was defunct. Similarly, the official regenttower.com.au website was shut down.

In November 2014 the Brisbane City Council moved the Brisbane Visitor Information Centre into the entrance hall and grand foyer of the Regent. At the opening ceremony, Regent Tower development director Chris McCluskey stated "the project would go ahead but the kind of space was still to be determined. "We're going through a redesign process at the moment and looking at alternative ways to deliver that project in line with market conditions,".

"There is significant office space in the CBD, so we are looking for the right space to suit market conditions.""

As of December 2014 construction was yet to commence.

Coffee shop

As well as the several cinemas within, the theatre foyer hosts an Aromas Coffee shop.