Urgent action is needed from the Andrews government to prevent the interior of the Palace Theatre being damaged beyond repair, heritage campaigners say.
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The National Trust has written to Minister for Planning Richard Wynne asking him to introduce interim heritage protection controls until a dispute over the proposed demolition of the former music venue is resolved by Victoria's planning tribunal.
In recent weeks a number of skips containing broken bricks, tiles and mirrors have been removed from the theatre, alarming those who have been campaigning to preserve the former Metro Nightclub.
Meanwhile, Jinshan Investments announced ithad a permit for "strip-out works" to prepare the building for a retail space.
The National Trust's Anna Foley said there was great concern about the fate of a 1916 marble staircase she believed had been marked for demolition by the building permit.
"Every day that passes more of the heritage fabric of the Palace ends up in a skip," Ms Foley said.
It is understood Mr Wynne does not have direct powers to grant the Edwardian theatre interim protection, but would instead have to make a request to the Heritage Council.
A similar process was followed last year when then planning minister Matthew Guy asked for Gough Whitlam's birthplace to be granted a temporary reprieve from the bulldozers.
A spokeswoman for Mr Wynne said the minister was seeking advice from his department on the best way to respond to the request to intervene.
Last year the Heritage Council decided against listing the Palace Theatre on the Victorian Heritage Register, but found the address was locally significant "as one of the oldest surviving purpose-built cinemas in the City of Melbourne and for its continuing use as a place of entertainment".
Melbourne City Council is not joining calls for the interim interior protection, despite arguing against the overall demolition of the theatre in an ongoing Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing.
It is a position that has angered and frustrated those from the Save the Palace campaign, as the council only dropped its bid to protect the theatre's interior when construction workers previously destroyed parts of the building in the midst of a heritage review.
