The Metro Theatre in its heyday. Photo: image is from the collections of the State Library of NSW.
Art lovers in inner Sydney have lost a possible theatre, film and cultural centre after the City of Sydney Council voted not to buy the Metro Theatre building in Potts Point.
The historic art deco building, originally built in 1939 and used for the last three decades as the headquarters of Hollywood film director George Miller, was put on the market in October last year.
Although Cr Forster received many submissions from residents and local arts and cultural groups in support of the proposal, the motion was amended against the sale. Councillor Jess Scully, part of the Clover Moore Independent Team, asked the council to ‘assist’ with other proposals for its restoration or use as a theatre or other cultural facility.
“Indicative figures suggest that the site would cost approximately $20m to purchase as is,” she said.
“This does not consider the potentially significant costs of restoring and adapting the site as a cultural facility, bringing it up to contemporary standards, or ongoing operational costs were the City to operate it as a cultural asset.”
Cr Scully said the proposal fell outside the council’s endorsed long term strategic plan and budget, and the council would now support moves for the site to be adapted for cultural use. What this assistance would involve has yet to be specified.
Andrew Woodhouse, the president of the Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage & Residents’ Society, said the council motion didn’t indicate when any decision would be made nor specify the criteria to be used for considering ‘whether it could assist’ with the project.
“This appears to be a delaying, do-nothing device,” he said.
“If the Metro is sold the community has lost a marvellous opportunity for the Metro to be a catalyst for the renaissance of Kings Cross.”
Mr Woodhouse said the Metro should be incorporated into a ‘much-needed’ Kings Cross master plan.
The Metro has a long history of use as a centre for arts and culture, having operated as a live entertainment complex, a theatre that housed the Australian version of the musical Hair, and most recently as the production house Kennedy Miller Mitchell where films like Mad Max, Happy Feet and Babe had been created.
Lisa Campbell, chairperson of the Hayes Theatre Company, said the sale of the Metro to a private buyer would not change the status quo for the local community, and supported the prospect of adding an additional theatre space to Sydney’s cultural landscape, something Sydney ‘deeply’ needed.
“It would be a shame if the Metro is not turned back into a theatre space,” she said.
James Aroney, JLL Property Australia’s National Director, Sales and Investments NSW, said the Metro had not yet been sold.
The Metro is protected as a local heritage item, which will place restrictions on any major works proposed for the site.
