Demolition work starts on Planet nightclub after 2004 closure
More than 16 years after its last patron staggered out the front door, demolition has started on the infamous Planet nightclub.
SA News
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More than 16 years since the beat stopped, the bottles of spirits were packed away and the last drunken punter stumbled out the front door, Planet nightclub is finally being demolished.
The Pirie Street Superclub, once a night-life hotspot renowned for Greed, its 80s themed night which would see thousands line-up down the road waiting for entry, has been closed since 2004 and has sat empty.
Over the weekend the careful task of dismantling the iconic building begun with large sections of the rear of the building already knocked down.
The facade of the building remains in place but will be knocked down within the coming months.
Planet famously had a rivalry with fellow city nightclub Heaven, often looking to out do one another with events, cheap drinks and famous DJs.
During the height of its popularity the superclub would get as many as 6000 patrons nightly on weekends.
Planet’s catchphrase was the hedonistic “10 per cent music, 20 per cent alcohol and 70 per cent sex”.
But alongside the flowing drinks and thumping bass came the inevitable violence.
A flurry of stabbings in the CBD had police out in force in the early 2000s cracking down on alcohol and drug fuelled violence, typically out the front of licensed venues like Planet.
In April this year the State Government announced that a $300 million high rise building would be erected on the site which would become home to the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure.
A DPTI spokesman said demolition work commenced at 83 Pirie Street and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
Construction on the new building is expected to begin in early 2021.
The construction of the new building will support up to 2000 jobs and include the consolidation of DPTI workers who have been working over seven different offices in the city.
The road has not been smooth for developers trying to take advantage of Planet’s prime location.
In 2012, the Adelaide Development Company tried to build a 21-storey, 84.5m tall office building on the site but had their hopes dashed.
Two companies which owned the building and pokie and hotel licences spent more than a decade locked in a bitter legal dispute which went all the way to the High Court.
