THE Albury Entertainment Centre will not be demolished in the near future after a bid to examine razing the theatre and convention centre was rejected on Monday night.
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He argued the theatre which opened in 1964 and its convention wing that dates to 1972 were "elderly" and "not what I would call architecturally significant".
The meeting heard the demolition and rebuilding of the convention centre had been estimated to cost $34 million and mayor Kevin Mack estimated the same process with the theatre could cost up to $40 million.
Councillors Darren Cameron and Murray King were the only supporters of Cr Stuchbery's move.
Cr Cameron said it would be worth looking at the feasibility of demolition but noted the big budget and need for government funding.
Councillor Henk van de Ven suggested Cr Cameron was "only cheesed off that it wasn't the Labor Party able to throw money around like a drunken sailor".
Cr King argued the entertainment centre was "tired".
"Its use-by date is up," Cr King said.
"I'm sure the people who thought about it back in the Albury City Council in the late '50s, early '60s never envisaged it would be around 60 years later."
Cr King said his aim was for all money for demolition and rebuilding to be borne by government taxpayers rather than Albury ratepayers.
But Cr Mack defended the theatre, saying film actor Shane Jacobson and other cast members of The BBQ were all "very complimentary" about the size and ambiance of the 880-seat venue.
"The performing arts centre was before its time and continues to do its job bigger and better than any other regional facility in Australia," Cr Mack said.
The failure of Cr Stuchbery's motion means council staff will continue to look at redeveloping the convention wing, a move flagged in September 2018.
It is expected a report relating to tender preparations will be presented to the council in May with $555,000 allocated for that process in the current budget.
