Overview
Back in 2018, a new 270-metre-tall, 79-storey tower was proposed for Sydney's CBD, taking over the space at 505-523 George Street. Two years later, that development has just received approval — meaning that Event Cinemas George Street, which currently sprawls across the site, is set to be torn down.
As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, two development applications for the inner-city address were approved by the City of Sydney this week. The aforementioned towering skyscraper, which will include more than 500 apartments in a $692 million project, is one of them. Also receiving the go-ahead is a 43-storey building, which will feature a hotel, residential apartments and a car park.
When news of the site's redevelopment first surfaced two years ago, retaining a cinema was part of the plan. That's still the case, although submitted design documents indicate that the current setup will be replaced by a one-level boutique cinema on the second floor of the building's public podium. Clearly, that's quite different to the existing multiplex, which means that it's the end of an era for cinephiles.
Event Cinemas George Street definitely isn't the flashiest cinema in Sydney, but it is a huge multi-screen picture palace in the heart of the CBD, with cinemas forming part of the site since the 1970s. The current building was originally a seven-screen Hoyts complex and, in its present guise, it plays new release films, hosts high-profile movie premieres and welcomes a number of film festivals each year — including the Sydney Film Festival.
As the ABC reports, Event Hospitality and Entertainment CEO Jane Hastings has said that "there are no plans at this stage to close the George Street cinemas" — although the development obviously can't go ahead without doing just that.
Demolishing historic CBD cinemas isn't a new trend, but the Event Cinemas George Street news follows similar big losses across the east coast over the past decade. Melbourne's Greater Union Russell Street was torn down partway through the 2010s, with a hotel now standing on the site. Brisbane's Regent Cinema was demolished at the beginning of the decade; however the replacement development has yet to be built, with the space now a hole in the ground.
Via Sydney Morning Herald / ABC. Top image: Russavia via Wikimedia Commons.
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