News & Discussion: General CBD Development

[Ben]

Yes it's in the develpoment register for June. New restaurant and landscaping. Don't remember seeing anything about a new facade though. Hopefully there will be.

[AtD]

The Playford has a big new... metal... thinggie...

[Shuz]

is that the sebel playford? i had my high school formal there. its VERY nice in the banquet room.

[bmw boy]

every time I walk past there for uni, that thing makes me shiver
!
it really doesnt fit the building ... which i used to like, still do ... but theyve ruined it!

[shaun]

Why have they destroyed the look of this elegant hotel, by putting that thing there

It looks horrible

[bmw boy]

Why have they destroyed the look of this elegant hotel, by putting that thing there

It looks horrible

mmm... about as horible as the new name 'sebel'

[Ben]

Probably not quite the right thread...

From the Messenger:

Overcrowding breakthrough

Louise Russell

18Sep07

OVERCROWDED Adelaide High School is tipped to expand next year into office space off Currie St, in the University of SA's City West campus.

While the Education Department and UniSA remain tight-lipped, Adelaide High's acting council chairman Ian Law has said there had been a ``breakthrough'' in negotiations over the school's crowding problems.

He said placing students at 160 Currie St, the former Laubman & Pank building, meant ``there'll be sufficient space to juggle around students''.
Enrolments for 2008 at the jamp-packed school were expected to hit 1300, meaning it would be up to five classrooms short. The school's had overcrowding issues for the past two years; its ideal enrolment level was about 1000 students.

An Education Department spokeswoman said the ``option of Currie St is currently in the early stages of negotiations with UniSA'' and refused to say if other city sites were under consideration. UniSAsaid any share arrangement was linked into a Memorandum of Understanding between the university and the school for an international ``foundation'' study program

[Will]

Here is some information regarding the refurbishment of the Adelaide University Building at 10 Pulteney Street:

Hansen Yuncken has been appointed as the general contractor



"$30M Refurbishment and Upgrade of 10 floors of the 13 Storey Tower building and 2 storey Education Building located on the corner of Pulteny St. and North Terrace Adelaide.

This project consists of a slab to slab refurbishment of 3 floors within 12 weeks and 5 floors within 17 weeks, and an expenditure of $20M over 5 months, with the remaining works to extend to the end of November 2008."

[Howie]

Final curtain on city cinema
Article from: The Advertiser

ANDREW FENTON, FILM WRITER

September 28, 2007 02:15am

IF YOU stood on a corner of Adelaide's Rundle and King William streets in 1955 you would have been spoiled for choice on where to see a movie.

There were 10 cinemas.

To the east along Rundle St The Mayfair was screening re-runs.

The Curzon showed European art films.

The York and The Rex had second-string features and such big films as Oklahoma played at The Regent or The Plaza.

Down Hindley St you would find the equally classy The Metro and Wests, the less savoury The Civic and up on King William St The Majestic was screening such epics as The 10 Commandments.

Those were the glory days when city cinemas screened the best movies months, or even years, before suburban cinemas.

That was an era when going to the movies was a national pastime and 124 million paying customers fronted up each year.

That equates to 13 visits for every man, woman and child in the country.

Stand at the same intersection today and you will not see a picture palace.

Tucked away in an arcade off Hindley St is the city's only mainstream film exhibitor, Greater Union.

At the other end of Rundle St is the arthouse Palace Nova.

Wallis Theatres program manager Bob Parr says that in the old days city cinemas were the jewel in any exhibitor's crown.

"City cinemas screened films exclusively in those days," he says.

"When they finished the city run they had a protection period where they couldn't be screened in the suburbs for eight weeks."

Mr Parr says this industry code was dropped in South Australia in 1983, when distributors realised TV advertisements were too expensive to run if a film were screened at only one location.

By the early to mid 1990s, the number of outlets for mainstream films had dropped to just the Wallis Academy Cinema City, Greater Union and The Regent. Even though the number of screens had nominally increased from the 1950s (to 12) they were far smaller cinemas.

Even at this stage, a film such as Pretty Woman could run for more than a year, as opposed to a couple of months today.

"The Wallis Academy was travelling well in the mid 1990s but the advent of the Marion Megaplex and the Norwood Multiplex really killed the city cinemas," Mr Parr says.

Suburban multiplexes were built one after the other - Marion, Norwood, Salisbury, Elizabeth, West Lakes and Mitcham.

Suburban multiplexes offered more screens and more choice, better sight lines and more comfortable seats - all a convenient distance from home.

Wallis Mitcham Manager Paul Besanko says: "If you don't need to go to the city to go to the movies then why would you? You have to put up with traffic and pay for parking."

The rest of the nation has had a similar rise in suburban multiplexes.

Twenty years ago, there were 121 city cinemas across Australia and 158 in the suburbs.

By last year the number of city cinemas had fallen to 94. The number of suburban cinemas had increased to 1079.

The biggest beneficiary of the closure of The Regent Theatre in January, 2004, was Greater Union, which increased turnover by 10 to 15 per cent.

Greater Union regional manager Mark Mannswirth expects a similar rise in turnover following last month's closure of the Academy. Mr Parr, however, believes the Hindley St site is far from ideal.

"Families won't go down there because of the image of the street," he says. "It's not a conducive environment for Disney films."

Mr Mannswirth doubts the Hindley St cinemas will move to the Myer Centre.

"As far as I know that's not happening," he says.

[Ben]

From the Messenger:

Further changes for city skyline

Chris Day

09Oct07

MAJOR city developments worth more than $170 million were approved this week, including new offices, homes and shops, and additions to existing buildings.


The city's Development Assessment Panel laboured through an agenda of more than 1140 pages on Tuesday (October its busiest night in recent years.

During four hours of talk and tweaking, the city's skyline changed at every turn. Developments approved by the panel from this sitting included:300 mostly student apartments and ground floor shops at Gouger St's former Mercedes-Benz showroom site;A 10-storey office tower opposite the Wakefield St Fire Station, including a 600 bay car park; andRevamping Light Square's former Sands and McDougall building into 60 apartments for homeless people and low income earners, to be known as Common Ground.

The Saracen's Head Hotel, Carrington St, will soon have a new beer garden, and three luxury apartments will be built above Light Square's Night Train building.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said he was most pleased by the Common Ground project a joint venture between the State Government and local businesses.

``It's a breakthrough for the city,'' Mr Harbison said.

``The building has sat unused for many years and to use it for housing of this style is very clever.''

The panel also endorsed its 2006/7 Annual Report which listed a record $494 million in development approvals.

It was more than $150 million more than last year's tally.

[Ben]

From the Messenger:

Grand stand plan

Aaron Coultate

09Oct07

GRANDSTAND plans for an $82 million replacement of the Adelaide Oval members' pavilion have gone before the city council for approval.

It will bump the ground's capacity from 30,000 to almost 40,000 spectators.

Designed by Hassell and Cox Architects, the three-tiered grandstand comprises six key elements: the Adelaide Pavilion, the Great Verandah, the Grand Promenade, the Atrium, the Adelaide Green and the Evolved Roof.

The design includes five domed roofs to complement the eastern stand built in 2003.

At the October 1 Adelaide Parklands Authority meeting, members unanimously voted to support the new design.

It will now go to the full City Council for landlord approval before it can get development approval.

SACA already holds approval from 2002 for the redevelopment of the western stand but is seeking approval for the new design.

The State and Federal Governments have committed $25 million each towards the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval. SACA will have to pay the remaining $32 million.

Under the new plan the longstanding Adelaide Oval Bowling and Tennis clubs available only to SACA members will have to be relocated.

If approved, construction is expected to start after the oval hosts the International Rugby Sevens tournament next April.

SACA spokeswoman Rebekha Rosser did not respond to the City Messenger before presstime.

[Pants]

$82m sounds like a fair chunk of cash, should be good at that price.

I know it wont happen, but I'd love it if they redeveloped the Bradman Stand to be the same height and appearance as the new members stand. It's a bit piecemeal at the moment and assuming the new members stand will look nothing like it, it'd be nice to have some continuity between all of the western stands.

Adelaide Oval's the thing I miss most about Adelaide and it hasn't hosted a cricket match since I left!

[Pistol]

Hey Pants, I am the same... Can't wait for the cricket to start - the epitome of Adelaide life is having a beer on the hill overlooking the cricket.

If you read the proposal, this is different to the original design that you speak of Pants. It says that the roof will feature five dome like on the Eastern stand.
Is there a render floating around?

[Ho Really]

It's a good thing they decided for continuity in design for the western stand. I guess most of us agree, the Bradman Stand now is (will be) out of place. The least they could do is remodel the roof to match the domes on the eastern stands (and future the western stand). Adelaide Oval will look super!

Cheers

[Matt]

Are there any renders floating around for the Adelaide Oval redevelopment?