Sensational-Adelaide.com

SRW wrote:

Omicron wrote:I shall award many points to the developer who buys the graceful but tired-looking mansion next door (Henry Ayres' summer residence, if memory serves) and restores it to some semblance of its former glory.

And then permits me to occupy it...

Omicron wrote:Half and half? I promise not to play trumpets or fire guns simultaneously.

Glenelg cinema lifeline

Local News26 Jan 11 @ 06:20am by Alice Monfries



PLEASED: Barbara Taylor wants the cinema retained.


THE landmark Glenelg cinema could be saved from demolition and converted into a multi-theatre complex.

High-profile Glenelg developer Andrew Taplin is in talks with Wallis Cinemas about redeveloping the 1937 Art Deco building into a modern seven-screen cinema complex.

Mr Taplin said the redevelopment, which could be completed in two years if Wallis agreed to the joint venture, would ``100 per cent’’ retain the building’s original facade.

``My vision is that the character building would remain but it would be altered so that it could be expanded,’’ he said.

``From a streetscape, you would still see a character building but it comes into a magnificant complex at the first-floor level, with some sort of retail at ground level.’’

Mr Taplin said he hoped to enter into a joint venture with Wallis, which owns the building and ran the cinema up until 2009, when it closed because of poor patronage.

Wallis lodged and application to demolish the building in 2009.

A final decision is expected to be handed down in the Environment, Resources and Development Court next month following a series of appeals.

Since its closure, the Jetty Rd building has been the subject of a community campaign, led by the Art Deco and Modernism Society, to save it from demolition by having it State Heritage listed.

The Guardian Messenger reported in August last year that almost 1200 signatures had been collected locally and internationally in support of the push, which was unsuccessful.

Mr Taplin said he believed the redevelopment proposal would be supported by Glenelg residents.

``We are aiming for feedback from Wallis next month and then, assuming there’s a positive decision, we would hope to meet with the council within 60 days of the decision,’’ he said.

Mr Taplin said the detailed designs would take about a year and construction of the upgrade a further 12 months to complete.

Plympton Park resident Barbara Taylor, who grew up in Glenelg and has many fond memories of the cinema from her childhood, said she was ``thrilled to bits’’ by the discussions.

``I’ve talked to so many people and there’s still a lot of people around that really would hate to see it (the cinema) go,’’ she said.

``I think we really need a picture theatre down there because while there’s the merry-go-round for the young ones, other than eating and shops, there isn’t very much down there to do.’‘

Mrs Taylor said she hoped the ``magnificent’’ staircase would also be restored if the redevelopment was to go ahead.

Wallis did not respond before press time.

Omicron wrote:I hope there aren't any more stages. It's hideous, objectionable tosh.

crawf wrote:Very sad news, hopefully the building will still be saved.

Either way Glenelg needs a cinema.

crawf wrote:Yes, it's the state's biggest tourist drawcard

The Scooter Guy wrote:

crawf wrote:Yes, it's the state's biggest tourist drawcard

And also, one of Glenelg's best assets & best liabilities.