Brisbane Heritage Watch

Curtains for the Regent Cinemas

2009-11-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

According to Queensland Heritage only the staircase and foyer of the Regent (pictured right image by Laserforce) have any heritage significance. The $800 million redevelopment is set to go ahead with a new showcase cinema, open only on weekends. The rest of the Brisbane landmark heritage theatre will be demolished.

Very sad outcome indeed for Brisbane's heritage. With some additional funds and some imagination the original theatre could have been completely rebuilt to undo the damage of the 1970s and Brisbane would have a prestigious heritage theatre to attract tourists and poach some of the big shows from down south.

Instead yet another boring office tower will leave its legacy.

Convict Windmill to open to public

2009-10-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

Brisbane's historic convict built 1828 windmill at Wickham Park Spring Hill, the city's oldest structure is set to be open to the public for the first time in its history after a renovation.

There is a gallery of interior photos on the Brisbane Times website.

The windmill could become a must see for Brisbane cultural tourists.

Pink Palace, Herston to be restored

2009-10-09T23:53:00.000-07:00

The 1931 Spanish Mission style Pink Palace in Herston is set to get a $1 million restoration.

The building was part of the first council run golf club in Brisbane.

Queensland's first building discovered by archaeologists

2009-09-15T16:14:00.001-07:00

The remains of what could be Queensland's oldest building (built by Europeans) and evidence of the Redcliffe convict colony has been found at last.

A brick kiln dating back to 1821 has been found by archaeologists on the former banks of Humpybong Creek.

Shock demolition for 1908 Queensland Blind, Deaf and Dumb Institute

2009-07-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

Queensland Health plans to demolish a Woollongabba landmark - two heritage buildings at the Blind, Deaf and Dumb buildings at 37 Kent Street.

View Larger Map

City Council rubber stamps Regent demolition

2009-05-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

The spectacular 1929 Regent Theatre on Queen Street has survived almost three quarters of a century despite an effort by the state government to raze it in 1970.

Now it appears that the theatre building's days are numbered. Council has approved the demolition of most of the Regent by developer Brookfield Multiplex to erect an $800 million office tower development in its place. Although the foyer listed on the Queensland Heritage register in 1992 will be retained and incorporated into the new tower, the facades, 1929 plaster ceilings and decorations in the current cinema and bar are scheduled for demolition.

Big Pineapple Heritage Registered - Owners mount legal challenge

2009-05-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Very interested to see the first of Australia's Big Things get heritage listed.

Australians, it seems, just love our big things. The roadside attractions, examples of novelty architecture are quite unique to our culture and are major domestic tourist icons.

Nambour's iconic Big Pineapple, just outside of Brisbane which lays claim to being the "World's largest Pineapple" is now protected.

But not everyone's happy. The owners certainly aren't. Now they can't make any changes to the place without EPA approval and they're threatening to sue.

Site of the Bellevue Hotel - 30 years on

2009-04-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

It is 30 years since the demolition of the Bellevue Hotel, probably Brisbane's most magnificent design, so I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on what I feel is Brisbane's greatest heritage loss.

The Bellevue was a Victorian filigree style hotel with twin French style mansard towers on its roof built in 1885-86. It sat gracefully in a beautiful precinct opposite the Botanic Gardens, Parliament House, the Queensland Club among rare and elegant Victorian terrace houses including The Mansions and Harris Terrace on Alice Street.

Jo Bjelke Petersen's progressive and pro-modern government bought the site and was keen to remove the old hotel to make way for office buildings. After years of fighting preservationists, the government removed the cast iron verandahs in 1974 in an act of spite before a midnight demolition by the notorious Deen Brothers on the 20th April 1979.

Sadly 30 years on and the site is nothing more than an ugly vacant windswept urban plaza to a horrible brutalist office building which adds nothing to Brisbane.

View Larger Map

This act of heritage vandalism spurred the preservationists to become more active which eventually led to new heritage protection laws.

The lessons of the past should not be forgotten.

Steam Train to celebrates Queensland's 150th anniversary

2009-04-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

The University of Queensland is using the journey of a heritage listed steam train from Ipswich across the state to celebrate the 150th anniversary of statehood.

Brisbane Heritage Expo

2009-04-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

The second Brisbane Heritage Expo will be held on May 16 at City Hall featuring over 50 stalls showcasing various heritage groups and organisations across Brisbane.

Public Appeal is City Hall's Last Hope

2009-03-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Council has rejected a proposal to save its culturally and architecturally significant Brisbane City Hall building which is crumbling from concrete cancer. That's right, you heard me, the Brisbane City Council wants to demolish the building which is the symbol of its own logo, something which is akin to destroying its own identity.

Instead, they have lauched a public appeal to raise the $215 millions supposedly required to save the building.

While I'm sure that this appeal will raise a signficant amount of money, personally I feel that it is an absolute disgrace that a council can let such an important building go to the dogs like that ....

Regardless, it is a landmark decision which will go down in history.

Victory Hotel returns from the dead

2009-02-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

An article from the Brisbane Times reports that renovation of the Victory Hotel has been completed. The owners could have chosen to redevelop the building as boutique hotel after a fire gutted the landmark mid last year, but instead decided to renovate the iconic pub. I guess the economic climate probably put a freeze on the redevelopment plans. In any case this is a pretty good cultural and heritage outcome for Brisbane. The original wooden staircase and mosaic tiled floor, spared from the fire, are now looking like new.

Plans to Demolish Historic Newmarket Queenslander

2009-02-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Some more poor form from developers, this time an application to demolish one of Brisbane's most significant Queenslander style homes.

The Queenslander style is a distinctive regional style. Original Queenslanders in the city are becoming rare as it becomes cheaper to build replicas in the outer suburbs.

The 249 Enoggera Rd Queenslander is one of the grandest Queenslanders in Brisbane, with a huge area and large projecting balcony bays including one octagonal one. The demolition application the latest example of the trend towards medium to high density with its proposed replacement being eight two-bedroom units.

It is not heritage listed by Brisbane City Council and sadly therefore likely to disappear from the Newmarket streetscape by the end of this year.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Gallery of Modern Art Pays Tribute to Brisbane's Lost Landmarks

2009-02-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

Optimism is an exhibition which showcases memories of some of Brisbane's lost landmarks of yesteryear, including the Bellevue Hotel and Cloudland which were midnight Deen Brothers demolition jobs during the Bjelke-Peterson era. Other icons remembered are the trams, Queenslander homes, Paris Cinema and Her Majesty's Theatre while more recent demolished icons to have a tribute include the Shingle Inn and Festivall Hall.

Keating House "restoration", a real shame

2009-01-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

As I'd feared, the completed restoration of Keating House in Indooroopilly has ruined much of its charm. It is a real shame and spit in the face to the prominent historic building's intangible character.

After so much neglect and being ordered to restore or else by heritage authorities, the owners have done a complete backflip and seems almost spiteful and disrespectful.

The building looks far too new now. The paint is all fresh white (even the windows !), like it could have been built yesterday. The galvanised roof gleams. No longer does it contrast with the red roof paint. I'm sure the heritage experts did their research, but there was something in its original state that said more for its history than what we've ended up with.

A picture and review can be seen on the ABC Queensland site.

Unfortunately in the name of heritage, Brisbane has lost a little piece of 1890s charm.

Queensland National Bank building restored and refurbished

2009-01-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Queensland National Bank building at 308 Queen Street has been restored and refurbished and is currently leasing.

The 1881 landmark renaissance revival building is notable for its sandstone facade, giant cornice and giant order columns. It is one of the earliest surviving Beaux Arts styled city office buildings in Australia and one of Australia's finest non-government Victorian Academic Classical buildings. It is located in the financial heart in a historic commercial precinct.

Originally designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley the renovations were designed by heritage architect Robert Riddell and Donovan Hill and marketed at "The Chambers".

The lavish boardroom is now a private function venue.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Demolish Brisbane City Hall - are you kidding ?

2008-12-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

Brisbane's City Hall is sinking. Built on swampland, it could require demolition and some are proposing that as the only option. The world class historic landmark building is being attacked from all fronts - the foundations, concrete cancer and now parts of the general Brisbane public.

This is a major shock to me. Who could think of Brisbane without this landmark building. The interwar building was for some time Brisbane's greatest landmark and tallest building. It is on the logo of the biggest metropolitan council in the Southern Hemisphere and the imposing clock tower based on the design of St Mark's Campanile in Venice, Italy is an image burned into the very soul of most Brisbanites. Its expensive restoration in the 1980s returned it to being one of the finest pieces of interwar architecture in the entire country.

Should Brisbane lose this building, it would be the death knell for Brisbane's heritage and Brisbane's soul.

The $200 million price tag to keep it going, in my honest opinion, is well worth it.

View Larger Map

Anne Street Presbyterian Church Hall demolition

2008-12-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

Historic Anne Street Presbyterian Church Hall is likely to be demolished will make way for a $320 million 37 storey office tower despite protests from the National Trust of Queensland and the retention of the main church building.

New Laws to protect against heritage neglect and vandalism

2008-10-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

The Courier Mail has reported that new laws are being progressively brought in to penalise building owners for the practice of "demolition by neglect".

An audit into abandonments is also being conducted. Of particular concern is the state of the heritage listed 'Pink palace' ... a council owned building which was formerly the Victoria Park Golf Clubhouse.

About time if you ask me.

Developer fined for demolishing four historic Hamilton homes

2008-09-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Four significant heritage homes in historic inner city Hamilton were cleared from a 7,000 square metre site by the notorious Deen Brothers in 2007.

The developers were fined $500,000.

But is that enough ?

Ironic that the developers would not disclose to the courts how much money they will make on developing the land. One would think that the fine would simply be a blip on their profit sheets based on today's land values. Not even a slap on the wrist.

While fines being handed out it good news, it could also set a dangerous precendent of developers taking calculated risks on Brisbane's heritage.

Owners of Keating House Indooroopilly ordered to restore it

2008-08-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

The owners of the iconic Brisbane mansion "Keating House" near the railway station in Indooroopilly have been ordered to restore it.

The turreted turn of the century house at 10 Westminster Road Indooroopilly is my favourite in Brisbane, standing out from the run of the mill timber Queenslander. With its solid Queen Anne character it also stands alone from others of the era with its fanciful roof, like something you might find in Sydney's Glebe. I'd always thought that the stucco seemed anacrhonous to the style of the building, like it was remodeled in the 1920s. Whatever the case, it is part of the building's character. I've always thought that if any house in Brisbane was going to be haunted - it would be this one.

I have always wondered who owned it and lived there. At one stage someone told me it was an old lady who refused to sell it despite large offers from developers. It certainly is suprising to see it remain in such a prominent position in such a progressive area.

Apparently new owners had tried to approve a new development to replace the mansion but it was given local heritage listing which prevented them from proceeding.

Indooroopilly has already seen the spoiling of many landmarks including the nearby Eldorado cinema and the Indooroopilly Hotel.

Still, I'm a little sad at this as Keating House does have a certain charm in its neglected, run down, state.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Yungaba, built 1887, desecrated 2008

2008-08-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Yungaba, a landmark heritage building at 120 Main Street in Kangaroo Point next to the Storey Bridge at the bend of the Brisbanis the latest victim of Brisbane's disdain for its heritage.

Despite the efforts of the Yungaba Action Group and even notable heritage proponent actor Geoffrey Rush, the state planning department has decided to reject the idea of it becoming an immigration museum and that the best outcome for the the historic 1887 immigration depot is to facade, state strata title and build it out it as part of a new apartment development. Historically the building was the only extant purpose-built immigration depot in Australia and one of the first buildings to be added to Queensland's first heritage register in 1988. It has played a key part in Brisbane's history including a key role in the development of the neighbouring landmark Storey Bridge.

Architecturally, the elegant building is in the distinctive Victorian Italianate style which although a popular style in the southern states is notably rare in Brisbane. The Palladian plan building has a twin set of small campanile belvedere towers with a set of Victorian filigree verandahs atop an arcade with waterfront position.

Rupert McCall has posted an interesting and passionate take on the situation.

View Larger Map

Bardon Fairy House could be sacrificed for traffic solution

2008-08-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

A group called Save the Fairy House are trying to stop the heritage-listed Bardon landmark, known locally as the "Fairy House", from demolition to widen a road.

The group has had some success, gathering 200 signatures on its online petition and council support against the move which continues to be put forward by the State Government.

The "Fairy House" was built in the 1950s by a Russian architect (who also designed Cloudland's chairlift). The "A frame" style for the house was based on the prevailing style of buildings in his Russian home town. The house features fairytale figures on its fence and a prominent bust of Wagner and Beethoven on the facade. The Brisbane City Council heritage listed it in 2001.

Victory Hotel - Destroyed by Fire

2008-07-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

The conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this one.

One of my old favourite haunts in Brisbane, the Victory Hotel 127 Edward Street burned down at 2.30am on July 26th to the shock of many patrons.

View Larger Map

Even before the fire, the owners (who bought the site for a whopping $22 million) have had a development application since a year ago to demolish the moderne style interwar hotel. I'm not making any accusations, but it always seems curious why this fate befalls buildings already on the chopping block. And it does seem quite a bit to pay to run a hotel .... and when you look at the pictures of the proposed redevelopment, despite what the owner says about vowing to continue to run it as a pub, there isn't that much familiar about the plans.

View Larger Map

Brisbane's Heritage Disappearing says QUT academic

2008-06-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Brisbane's heritage is being swamped by new development, according to Peter Skinner of the Queensland University of Technology.

He believes that while major landmarks remain, there is a fast diminishing sense of history in the city.