[5] The cinema was subject to a disastrous fire on 29 April 1945 which destroyed the auditorium, organ, fly tower, and roof, but leaving the foyers and Plaza largely intact.

The Council's decision to purchase the Regent was one of the factors that, ironically, ensured the theatres' survival, since they were subject to public pressure where a private owner would not have been.

[9] The council argued that the long blank side wall of the Regent would compromise architects abilities to create grand visions for the site.

[citation needed] Later that year, the next Lord Mayor Ron Walker supported his predecessor, however Builders Labourers Federation secretary Norm Gallagher announced a green ban on the building preventing demolition.

[8] However it was not until 12 October 1988[1] that the site was successfully nominated to the Victorian Heritage Register, and then upgraded its classification to national level after the restoration).

In 1980 with the Regent still empty, the City Square finally opened, incorporating the space of the Plaza Theatre, with the interior was gutted leaving only the ceiling intact.

[8] Following the controversial demolition of the Regent in Sydney in 1988, by the 1990s, the significance and fate of Australia's remaining "picture palaces" was becoming an important issue.

[5] The redevelopment, which was undertaken by commercial builder Hansen Yuncken, took 3 years from September 1993, and involved complete overhaul, repairs, new services, installation of extensive stage facilities, recreation of decorative fixtures and finishes including much of the furniture and the ornate street front ticket booth (since removed again), and creation of a new stalls lobby in matching style.

[13] The Regent Theatre reopened with a gala event on 17 August 1996, and on 26 October Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard premiered.

[citation needed] In April 2019, Marriner Group in partnership with the building's owners, the Victorian State Government and the Melbourne City Council, commenced a major refurbishment of the Regent Theatre auditorium.