Excavators have begun tearing through the Capitol Theatre in Manuka as demolition at the embattled hotel project gets underway.
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It was the first sign of work on the second stage of Sotiria Liangis' long-awaited Manuka Hotel project, which was approved with conditions in mid-2021.
Years of disputes, including a long-running stoush over a tree, have marred the development, which local businesses believe will revive the area.
Stage two includes the demolition of the Capitol Theatre cinema building on the corner of Furneaux Street and Canberra Avenue and the construction of a six-storey building in its place.
![Demolition of the Capitol Theatre begins. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Demolition of the Capitol Theatre begins. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/146508744/1f43b0e8-c936-4ac6-b6d5-fb7a37c95918.jpg/r0_271_5300_3263_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It will include five cinemas, a ballroom and meeting spaces, a restaurant and 122 hotel rooms across the upper levels.
Once complete, stage two will integrate with stage one, the Parisian-style building that now stands on the corner of Flinders Way and Canberra Avenue, to form Manuka Hotel.
Lease variation in process
Work at the site began last week, when old cinema chairs were removed by hand and relocated to storage.
On Wednesday, the building's interior was being stripped out and dumped into a tipper.
![The cinema's interior was being pulled out on Wednesday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong The cinema's interior was being pulled out on Wednesday. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/146508744/ee56857d-2646-4c6e-b115-01494c1699c8.jpg/r0_271_5300_3263_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It is understood the building structure will be pulled down in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile Mrs Liangis sat inside the empty lobby of the adjoining hotel building, at a table covered with pages of development plans.
She did not wish to comment when approached by The Canberra Times.
![An artist impression of the proposed Manuka Hotel. Picture supplied An artist impression of the proposed Manuka Hotel. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/146508744/383a8650-2e63-4fe8-b415-bbc58c493726.png/r0_140_2097_1319_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The plans were conditionally approved by the planning authority in 2021.
Under the conditions, the planning authority stated the approval would not take effect until variations to the Crown leases were made.
No building work, except demolition or decontamination, was allowed to commence until the instrument of variation was registered with the ACT Land Titles office.
The approval was also subject to plans being revised to provide a main entrance to the hotel facing Canberra Avenue.
Mrs Liangis threatened to pull the pin on the second stage of the development over the relocation of the entrance.
An ACT government spokesperson said the planning and land authority released the demolition plans in August so demolition and site preparation work could "progress without delay".
The spokesperson confirmed the approval conditions required to commence to construction had been satisfied, apart from the lease variation.
They confirmed Mrs Liangis had entered into a lease variation charge deferred payment scheme, which is available for charges that exceed $50,000.
"The lessee is now in the process of lodgement with the land titles office," the spokesperson said.
"The main building works can commence following the registration of the lease variation with the land titles office."
Is the wait finally over?
The Liangis family purchased the Capitol Theatre site in the late 1980s.
Mrs Liangis sold the cinema in 2007 before buying it back again in 2010.
In 2015, she purchased the adjoining block, which housed an old post office building and would eventually become stage one.
Plans for the redevelopment of the site were first lodged in 2018, but an ongoing battle over a then-protected London plane tree stalled the project.
![An artist impression of the proposed Manuka Hotel. Picture supplied An artist impression of the proposed Manuka Hotel. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/146508744/d85fb117-2084-4c43-96f2-b3a019990fb2.png/r0_167_2505_1575_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The nine-year dispute came to an end in 2019 when Liangis Investments Pty Ltd and the Conservator of Flora and Fauna reached an agreement at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the tree was eventually removed.
It paved the way for the construction of stage one, which began in mid-2020.
Around the same time, the Capitol Theatre cinema closed its doors before the redevelopment plans for stage two were submitted later that year.
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