The Sydney-based Century Venues group, which operates the popular Enmore Theatre and The Metro among others, plans to restore the Perkins Street building into a grand entertainment hub which would compliment the Civic Playhouse and Civic Theatre.
The Vic was built in 1890 and is the oldest theatre in NSW. The final curtain went down on its last performance in 1996 and the building has been boarded up since 1999.
Veteran hotelier Arthur Laundy bought the building in 2004 for $1.1 million and decided to put it up for auction with a reserve price of just $1, saying it was a philanthropic gesture in the hope of attracting a buyer with enough money to restore the theatre to its former glory.
Shane Bransdon from the Revive The Victoria Theatre Newcastle Group posted on Facebook saying he was "very pleased that the new owners have a track record of restoring old theatres and operating them as live performance venues".
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| The heritage-listed Victoria Theatre in Perkins Street |
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| Inside the Victoria Theatre (photo courtesy ABC and Peter Bower) |
