Shock report: The only remaining history in Old Burleigh Theatre is small interior wall

A councillor has called council’s bid to save the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade a farce after an investigation made a stunning discovery.

A COUNCILLOR has called council’s bid to save the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade a farce after an investigation found its remaining 1930s history amounted to a small interior wall.

Councillors at a planning committee meeting yesterday agreed to back a conservation management plan for the iconic Gold Coast landmark which is to be redeveloped after being recently sold.

The Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade.

But Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, the only councillor to vote against the recommendation, said the CMP found “there is minimal evidence of original 1930s picture theatre”.

An officer confirmed there was a “small section of internal wall from 1936” and

“the two bookends” – the brick facades and two remnant front and rear portions of the building – which would need to be protected.

“I have no problem with the facade being retained, if that’s what is of value,” Cr Gates said.

“When you go further into the report – there is a tiny wall – I don’t know what the dimensions of that wall are, but a tiny little wall that is the only remaining possible not even confirmed 1930s aspect of this building and there’s no evidence of the early theatre.

“I just can’t believe we would be going and adding all these layers of red tape to someone who wants to make an investment in this city.”

Interior of the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Cr Gates also questioned the level of community concern remarking that “it’s always the noisy wheel that gets the oil”. The only feedback had been media polling.

“We have got a building the State has refused to put on their heritage register. There’s no evidence of the 1930s design or aspects that we’re trying to protect. There’s evidence of an old theatre that used to be there that was a place of significance. I just can’t see those are strong enough reasons to include them on a heritage register,” she said.

“And I actually think it is quite a farce that we’ve created so much cost already with even the consideration of this report and the poor purchaser who fronted up and made the investment in our city at the time had no idea that this path would be ahead of him.

The De-Luxe Theatre at Burleigh Heads. It became the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade.

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“For me it’s one of the worst things we’ve ever done to anyone to stimulate activity in our city. I simply don’t understand why we can’t extinguish this from the register and have a condition applied within any subsequent application that protects the part of that building that people love so much.”

Planning committee chair Cameron Caldwell, who supported the report, told the meeting: “I don’t think this was the worst decision council has ever made. I thoroughly disagree with that assertion.”

Donna Gates — this is a farce. Picture: Jerad Williams.

Cr Caldwell recalled the loss of the historic Miami Ice building and how councillors later discussed “why wasn’t something done”.

“Whether we could have saved it or whatever, we got to the pointy end of the decision and couldn’t do anything. Whilst this had a clunky beginning to its life, it was well intended and in the end achieves the outcome we should be trying to strive for in maintaining things of value for the city,” he said.

“It would be a shocking misread on the public sentiment in the local area to say there isn’t community support to save this particular site in some form, because the message was loud and clear when there was even mooted discussion of how it might be taken away.”