Statement from Bille Brown:
February 27, 2008
"The Taleban are at work again. Now in Brisbane. The Regent may not
have the antiquity of those giant statues in the hillside that were
viciously destroyed but the threatened Regent recalls Cloudland, or,
The Bellevue Hotel, Her Majesty's theatre. The Regent is a palace for
works of imagination, a unique part of our cultural heritage and our
identity.
"Being there it helps us remember and inspires us. And what will
replace it! A Car Park, more shops. Just another building that looks
like any other building in you name it city. A lethal lack of
imagination and a ruthless self righteousness gave those thugs, the
Taleban the impetus to wipe out years of memory hewn in stone, so too
earnest and ambitious developers will knock down, wipe out something
special to Brisbane.
"A Movie Theatre, the kind of which are becoming increasingly rare
round the world. One of the last remaining Picture Houses on the main
street of our town. Remnant of another time but with clever use of new
technology and inventive use will live longer.
"Look! It is not the antiquity or even the aesthetic beauty of our old
house, it is the meaning and the worth of that building.
"Let us cherish what we have and make it work. When the Venice Opera
House burnt down it was rebuilt with pride and determination. At the
Santa Barbara Film Festival, the heart of the action is a beautiful
restored and functioning movie palace like the Regent. And when it is
not showing movies, it has live shows from all over the world, or just
down the road.
"Look again! Let us keep this grand old lady going. Don't knock her
down. Give her something to do!"
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