Historic Melbourne live music venue, The Palace Theatre, will close its doors for good on Saturday May 31.
The new owners of the site, Chinese investment firm Jinshan Investments, have had their plans to redevelop the venue rejected by Parliament, but they have declined to extend the music venue's lease in the interim period.
"Numerous requests to the landlord to extend our lease have been rejected," reads a statement from the venue. "The landlord has made this decision while still awaiting approval of planning and building permits which to date, have been rejected by both the State Government and Melbourne City Council.
"Palace Theatre management had requested assistance from both state and local government to seek alternative locations to ensure the ongoing success of Victoria's thriving live music industry and to continue to provide live music. Regretfully, to date, this avenue of relocating the operations of the Palace Theatre has been unsuccessful."
Since its opening in 1860, the venue has been known under a series of names, including Apollo Theatre, Metro Nightclub, Metro Theatre, St James Theatre and Brennan's Amphitheatre.
"The Palace Theatre team is extremely proud to have created a world-class and much sought after venue over the past eight years and to have been a part of its 150 year history," said the statement. "This venue has hosted many hundreds of bands which have entertained over two million patrons during these eight years."
