Brisbane's Inner West Might Be Getting a Boutique Five-Screen Cinema and Bowling Alley

When Boxing Day rolls around, it'll be 15 years since the old Red Hill Skate Arena met a fiery end. Other than the brightly coloured graffiti adorning the burnt-out building's walls, the site on the corner of Musgrave Road and Enoggera Terrace has remained largely unchanged since, though plenty of redevelopment plans have been floated. If the latest goes ahead, it could see Brisbane gain yet another new cinema.

A development application has been lodged for a five-screen cinema and a two-lane bowling alley, in what's proving a boom period for new movie houses across the city. The Elizabeth Picture Theatre opened in October, the new Dendy Coorparoo will follow at the end of November and Reading Cinemas Newmarket is slated to launch in December.

This proposal comes courtesy of the folks behind the former, as well as New Farm Cinemas. According to documents submitted to the Brisbane City Council, the Sourris family were the owners of the original building on the site in the 1950s. They plan to resurrect its name — Red Hill Pops Theatre — as part of a project that nods to the address' history.

If it gets the go-ahead, locals can expect a quintet of big screens with a total capacity of 355 seats, bowling lanes put in beneath the upper foyer, and the restoration of architectural pieces with significant cultural heritage as part of the design by James Davidson Architecture. A new metal roof will replicate the previous roof while replacing the existing open framework, while some fire-damaged aspects will be demolished.

Previous ideas for the spot have included a function centre, shops and restaurants, as well as an extension of Musgrave Road's Clovely Estate Cellar Door, but none have come to fruition.

Via Your Neighbourhood.