An overnight fire has reduced the former Austral Picture Theatre in Collingwood.
The theatre opened in 1921 and later became a rollerskating rink, but was abandoned despite plans to demolish it for apartments.
Police will investigate the fire after it was deemed suspicious.
Police will investigate a fire that destroyed a theatre in Collingwood, in inner Melbourne.
Firefighters arrived in Johnston Street about 10:30pm to find thick smoke and flames coming from the double-storey Austral Picture Theatre building.
Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) said crews managed to stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring properties.
It took well over an hour to control the fire.
FRV said the fire had been deemed suspicious.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the building was abandoned and no-one was believed to have been inside during the fire.
An arson chemist has begun investigating the fire.
The Heritage Council of Victoria said most of its original features had remained intact, but there had been some changes on the ground floor.
It said the Greek revival-style building was not heritage-protected but was regarded as locally significant for historical and architectural reasons.
It said the building's original owner, Robert McLeish, was linked with the Rivoli and other cinemas in Melbourne.
"It has local social and historic significance as a former long-term public building," the council's website stated.
The building was later turned into a rollerskating rink and was occupied by a carpet store.
In 2021, locals mounted a campaign against a plan to demolish the former theatre to build a 11-storey apartment building.
"Don't let the Austral Picture theatre with its intact interior be demolished like the former Star Lyric Theatre," a Protect Collingwood/Abbortsford social media post said at the time.
"The few remaining former picture theatres in Yarra are central to telling the story of their neighbourhood's social heritage."
The building has since remained abandoned, with no construction starting.