Overture, dim the lights: billionaire Gretel Packer will bring glamour back to Sydney’s Kings Cross and Potts Point, announcing detailed plans on Monday to revitalise the heritage-listed art deco Metro/Minerva Theatre.
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Packer → dim → Theatre
When the curtain goes up, it will put the “diamond back in a tiara of 75 art deco apartment blocks”, said Dr Peter Sheridan, the chairman of the Potts Point Preservation Group, which welcomed Packer’s announcement.
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which → go → announcement
Sheridan said the apartment blocks were the jewels in the art deco crown.
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blocks → say → crown
And the 87-year-old theatre – the only commercial art deco building surviving in the area – was the diamond in what was the best and biggest hub of buildings of their kind in Australia.
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what → survive → Australia
Not only would it provide the city with a much-needed mid-sized theatre, the art deco collection could become a tourist hub similar to Napier in New Zealand, said Sheridan, a world expert.
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Sheridan → provide → Zealand
Packer, the major backer of the Minerva Theatre project, said she was honoured to have a role in the revitalisation of a theatre that had played such “an intrinsic part of the artistic history of Potts Point, Kings Cross and Sydney at large”.
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that → say → Point
The site was bought last year by Packer’s Sacred Firebird group for $26 million.
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site → buy → million
Packer announced on Monday community consultations with residents, the arts community and others on the project.
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Packer → announce → project
They will explore how the Minerva’s art moderne and art deco heritage can be restored while adapting the building to meet contemporary safety, accessibility, performance and operational requirements.
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heritage → explore → requirements
The lead architect on the project, Hannah Tribe of Tribe Studio Architects, said they wanted to bring the magic and electricity back.
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they → say → magic
“For too long she has been privatised as an office, or reduced to a supermarket, or empty, hoarded and not just a little bit sad,” Tribe said of the Minerva.
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Tribe → privatise → Minerva
They also want to restore the theatre’s iconic tower.
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They → want → tower
Historic photos gave a sense of the “expectation and anticipation of the thrill of electric lights, dressing up for a night out … and the escapist magic of theatre”.
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photos → give → theatre
When the Minerva opened in 1939, it was the acme of glamour.
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it → open → glamour
When patrons arrived to see the first performance of The Idiot’s Delight, there were gasps of approval at the glamorous outfits – including a fur-trimmed blue velvet gown and over-the-top hats.
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patrons → arrive → top
Curiously, the Herald reported, there were a surprising number of dogs in the crowd.
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Herald → report → crowd
“One large water spaniel had no fear of the floodlights.”
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spaniel → have → floodlights
Heritage architect Hector Abrahams’ vision seems to conjure this image (without the dogs).
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vision → seem → dogs
We will all dress up and enter through the long-closed doors with the nickel-plated handles.
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We → dress → handles
Join the throng in the art moderne foyer, up the great wide stair with its wavy balustrade, rising into the mirrors and curvy vaulted ceiling – to arrive, as of old, in the 900-seat, futuristic space-capsule auditorium, to watch the curtain go up.”
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curtain → join → auditorium
Warren Fahey, a cultural historian and the patron and administrator of the Potts Pointers, a 16,000-member community group on Facebook, said Packer’s move was one of the most exciting developments in a city desperately short of mid-sized venues.
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move → say → venues
When the Minerva opened in 1939 it seated 1000, but it is expected to accommodate 700 or 800 after the revamp.
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it → open → revamp
Fahey said Kings Cross and Potts Point were quite chic in the 1930s.
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Cross → say → 1930s
“When Sydney went to bed at 9.30pm it was a good place for coffee and restaurants.”
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it → go → coffee
The project would transform Kings Cross, he said.
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he → transform → Cross
If it also became a venue for concerts, Ted Talks, and other events, as proposed, it would bring more restaurants to the area to service theatre patrons.
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it → become → patrons
“It is the best outcome,” Fahey said.
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Fahey → say → ?
Sheridan said the building was rare in every sense.
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building → say → sense
“It is important that it is retained for its original use, rather than a tokenistic approach,” he said.
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he → retain → approach
The state and the city had been rather moribund, he said, and there had been a complete lack of understanding of the value of 20th-century Australian architecture.
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he → say → architecture
A previous plan by Central Element, working with architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer to turn the site into a hotel with a small theatre, was opposed by the community because it only retained the art deco facade.
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it → work → facade
The Australian Financial Review reported that the project had the support of NSW Arts Minister John Graham.
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project → report → Graham
“Another mid-sized venue will be great for producers, audiences and, in the case of the Minerva, fantastic for the Kings Cross precinct,” Graham said.
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Graham → say → precinct
The Aporia
