The Regent Theatre was a heritage-listed cinema and entertainment venue in George Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, built in 1928 as a flagship for Hoyts, and was demolished in 1988 by property developer Leon Fink.
The theatre closed with a screening of the documentary Ski Time on 26 May 1984. The last live performance was by American musician Ellen McIlwaine on 19 May 1984.
In the late 1970s many meetings of the Australian Broadcasting Commission Staff Association were held there at very reasonable rates, the owner being sympathetic to the trade union.[10]
Demolition commenced in late 1988 after a court decision upheld the lifting of the permanent conservation order by the Minister for Planning and Local Government, David Hay.
The slump in the Sydney property market that followed meant that the site remained a vast hole in the ground until 2004, when work finally began on a new high-rise building complex.
Many of the theatre's fittings were sold at an auction in 1990, and can be found in a number of locations around Sydney and NSW. A lightweight plastic replica of the Art Deco crystal chandelier from the Regent's foyer now hangs in the foyer of the nearby The Metro Theatre; redeveloped from a cinema, it is now the city's leading rock music venue. The fate of the original chandelier, from which the Metro's copy was made, is unknown.
The theatre had been listed on the Register of the National Estate,[11] but this did not prevent its demolition by property magnate Leon Fink. Leon Fink was in business with well known property magnate and major organised crime figure, Abe Saffron, who was also a major share owner.
The remodelled Regent Melbourne which has been converted for live performance still exists, as does the Regent Theatre, Dunedin in New Zealand, which serves as both a live performance venue and a cinema.
