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Scott Hutchinson, CEO of Hutchinson Builders, is putting his money where his mouth is and begun work on a new $43 million venue in the Fortitude Valley precinct, and he is calling it the new “Festival Hall”.
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Partnering with John ‘JC’ Collins (Powderfinger) and Paul Piticco of Secret Sounds Group, Hutchinson says that work has begun on the venue, which is going to be located at 312 Brunswick Street, right in the middle of the Mall.
The venue will be run under the same business model as the hugely successful Newstead establishment, The Triffid, which is also owned and managed by Collins and is set to hold 3500 people and will be Brisbane’s biggest music venue in the inner city area.
Speaking to The Brisbane, Times Hutchinson explained that the original building will remain but a lot of work needs to be done to get it rock’n’roll ready.
“The building was originally an old Coles and it runs from the Brunswick Street Mall through to Warner Street,” Hutchinson says.
“We’re staying within the (building) envelope of what we’ve got at the moment, but gutting a lot of it out because it used to be an office building,” he continues.
Hutchinson believes that the venue will fill a huge gap in the market, a gap that has been noticeable since the demolition of the original Festival Hall.
“Now I’ve got the money to replace Festival Hall, well Hutchies [his company, Hutchinson’s Builders] has the money to replace Festival Hall,” he says.
“And someone has got to do it. Brisbane’s music scene could fall off the perch if someone doesn’t do this. This venue fills a yawning gap. A real yawning gap. And the tenants have plans to activate the Valley during the day as well, so this will lift the whole Valley,” Hutchinson explains.
The venue will be a boost to the Valley economy as well, combining retail stores with function space and the owners of Phase 4 Record store, Donat Tahiraj and Julie Morrison, are welcoming the venue with open arms.
“There a lot of daytime businesses here that will really complement that rock and roll venue,” Morrison says
“I think it is something that has been missing from Brisbane, a venue of that scale, since the loss of Festival Hall. I think the fact that they are choosing the Valley to build it in is a great thing for all of us, since it was once the centre of alternative music in Brisbane,” Morrison continues.
If all goes to plan the first bands in the venue will be rocking out early 2019.
