Montgomery Hall. Mount Claremont. Venue going to waste. Any ideas?
Fri, 10 Aug 2012, 06:29 pmDavid Hardie6 posts in thread
Montgomery Hall. Mount Claremont. Venue going to waste. Any ideas?
Fri, 10 Aug 2012, 06:29 pmMontgomery is part of the original buildings that comprised Graylands Hospital (some may say the perfect place for a theatre).
You can see the exterior via Google Maps.
If you want to see the interior, there are some photo’s here:
http://www.6000times.com/2010/01/swanbourne-abandoned-mental-crazy.html
It’s current status is that it has been bought by a developer and after a long drawn out process, too long to describe here, has placed it on the market. See here for details:
http://montgomeryresidences.com.au/site/
There are various players and here are their current positions:
Local Council: Would be willing to take on the hall as a public theatre but is not willing to either buy or pay to the renovate the hall.
National Trust: is willing to facilitate the renovation and development of the hall as a public theatre but is unable to purchase the venue.
The Developer/Owner: wants to make as much money out of the deal as they can and is not of a mind to donate it to the National Trust of any other body.
The notion of donating the hall is not as far-fetched as you might think. If it was donated to the National Trust is would create a tax write to the equivalent of the value of the property. I’m not sure what a precise figure would be but it would be at least $1 million. Also in the right context, the hall, properly renovated as a community facility would be an asset to the area and improve the value of the surrounding real estate. Certainly an improvement than its current state.
I have been following the proceedings for the last 2 years and have been lobbying various parties but I have got to what I feel is a dead end. It’s such a shame as the venue represents a venue of incredible potential at a time when we are short of reasonably good and affordable public venues and that list seems to get smaller every year.
So I am putting it all out there.
The Real Estate agent is still keen to hear from potential buyers but I don’t know how long this situation will last.
Potentially, we could do something that would change the face of independent theatre in Perth and I feel that it is close to coming to fruition but it seems that the first step is the hardest.
Any ideas?
Anyone?
Regards,
David.