Lot's Wife Edition 2 2016

CULTURE
Death of an icon
by Verity Norbury
Illustration by Declan Trevv
century has passed and life has flourished around
A me. Thousands of people erupting in applause,
‘Bravo! Bravo!’ they cry! ‘Encore!’ I am freedom, a flaming
beacon of hope and passion; the key to ignite the soul.
Now, the world is colder, only shadows, darkness looms
as my walls crumble, and all that was flaming glory now
turns to ash – death is imminent, breath escapes me as I
wait my fate…
The Palace Theatre is doomed to demolition if the
Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) rules in
favour of the premises’ new owner, Jinshan Investments in
the trial which occurred in late February. The question is:
will this magnificent building, an iconic symbol of theatre
and music, rise from the ashes as argued by the Melbourne
City Council and National Trust or become a distant memory,
charred and dismembered, replaced by a hotel?
It is a battle between tradition and change, performance
and convention, musicality and the ‘chink chink’ of
cash registers. Theatres in Melbourne are dying off, consumed
by dull, conventional businesses. The Pram Factory,
run by the Australian Performing Group, closed thirty years
ago and is now a Woolworths. The Eastern Arcade, a former
hub of nightlife and theatre in the early 1900s, also suffered
a similar fate when demolished in 2008.
If the Palace Theatre suffers the same end, an integral
part of Melbourne’s past will be lost, and given our
city holds few historical buildings, what remains should be
preserved. The site’s origins trace to the lavish era of the
Victorian Gold Rush, a pivotal part of the establishment of
Victoria, whereby Thomas Mooney built the theatre along
20-30 Bourke St. However, in 1911, the premises burnt
down only to be rebuilt and named the ‘Palace’. The interior
took on a whole new life when a new purchaser Benjamin
Fuller in 1916 paid theatre architect Henry Eli White to
make renovations consisting of a Louis XIV-inspired interior,
complete with a marble staircase. Take away the Palace
and these memories: those of an era where live theatre
reigned supreme, where horse and carts were the preferred
method of transport and people actually sent hand written
letters to one another, they’ll be all but forgotten through
the grey, stark walls of the present.
The era of the depression saw the Palace renamed as
‘The Apollo’ and used as a cinema. Indeed, over the next
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