The historic Rex Cinema building on Kinta Lane and Burma Road in Penang should be saved, safeguarded, and refurbished for future generations.
George Town Heritage Action member Mark Lay told NST Property that several groups are opposed to the Rex Cinema being replaced with high-rise development.
The Rex Cinema, which was erected in 1938 for 70,000 Singapore dollars, is planned to be demolished to make room for a 27-storey condominium building.
The structure is regarded as a piece of Penang's history because it was a cutting-edge cinema when it first opened its doors 85 years ago.
The Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle reported in 1939 that it was Malaya's largest cinema of its sort.
The cinema was open until the early 2000s before being taken over by a furniture store.
In addition to the condominium, the developer has applied to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to conserve and maintain a row of 24 heritage shophouses on the nearby Kinta Lane.
The city council authorised the project last October.
The New Straits Times has reached out to MBPP for comment but to no avail.
According to Lay, innumerable heritage structures in this country have been razed for commercial gain through real estate development.
"It is a damning track record. There appears to be only one operative equation – that of huge profits. In light of today's experience, knowledge, and aspirations, it should not always be a foregone conclusion that when there is a choice between heritage conservation and real estate development, development is favoured, especially when it generates income for the Local Authority.
"Given that Penang has a World Heritage Site, the powers that be should act to protect our common legacies for future generations and rule in favour of protecting our non-renewable cultural assets," he said.
The key point, according to Lay, is that Rex is placed within the larger context of the George Town World Heritage Site, and the structure is designated as worthy of protection in the Penang State Government Built Heritage Inventory 2013.
Charles Geoffrey Boutcher (1884-1964), a London-born architect and partner of the Penang, Ipoh, and Johor architectural company Stark & McNeill in Malaya, designed the cinema.
Among his many notable projects were the Kedah House in Penang and the Zahir Mosque in Alor Setar.
In 1932, he established his firm, Boutcher & Co., at 9 Weld Quay in Penang. Boutcher & Co. was the only Penang-based architectural firm that survived WWII. Boutcher also had offices in Penang at 19 Beach Street and Ipoh at 21 Hale Street.
Lay said the local authority should wait for its decision on the demolition of any site believed to have heritage value until it has exhausted all possibilities to preserve its survival and not rule in favour of demolition in the first instance when the proposal is given to it for consideration.
"Penang needs to learn from its past demolition disasters," he said.