Theatre Australia

your portal for australian theatre

Montgomery Hall. Mount Claremont. Venue going to waste. Any ideas?

Fri, 10 Aug 2012, 06:29 pm
David Hardie6 posts in thread
Montgomery 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.

Blak Yak!

Fri, 10 Aug 2012, 08:24 pm
Guys, get on this if you can!

Thread (6 posts)

← Back to Billboard Bulletins