Back in February, we asked the question ‘Why doesn’t anyone want to buy one of Australia’s most iconic music venues?‘ We we’re talking about The Tivoli, the long-standing Brisbane venue which up until today was facing potential redevelopment.
The venue’s longtime owners were looking to offload it and after being unable to find anyone in the music industry willing to purchase the space, which regularly hosts sold-out gigs from major artists, they opened it up for potential redevelopment.
Scott Hutchinson, chairman of Hutchinson Builders and music lover, whom we dubbed ‘Australia’s chillest businessman‘, lodged a tender that would spare The Tivoli from redevelopment, but whether or not it would be approved was up in the air.
Now, the Brisbane Times reports a group of “passionate music lovers” have banded together to save The Tivoli. And when they say passionate, they mean it. They’ve reported purchased the Fortitude Valley venue for close to $9 million.
The group of saviours includes former Brisbane Powerhouse producer Dave Sleswick, his brother Steven, and Jerome Dalton from Dalton Catering, who have stated their commitment to retaining The Tivoli as a live music venue.
“It’s exactly what Brisbane wanted to happen to it,” a source close to the sale told Fairfax. “It is to be retained as a music venue so they will keep with the live music but include more performing arts, functions and events.
“But basically it will be doing exactly what it has been doing… there’s a huge amount of support for it to stay as a music venue and that is what the purchasers are committed to. None of them want to see it knocked down, that’s for sure.”
