For a younger generation of Brisbane residents, the name Cloudland might conjure images of the bar and function venue on Ann Street in Fortitude Valley.

But the original Cloudland, from which this new venue took its name, was a majestic ballroom in Bowen Hills and held a significant place in the public psyche both before and after it was demolished.

Cloudland was situated on an Aboriginal Ritual site, with clear sightlines and used for ceremony and messaging. The building’s elevated position made it a prominent feature in the landscape.

Opened in 1940, Cloudland’s striking design greeted visitors with an 18-metre-high arched roof entrance and sprung dance floor.

It was the largest dance hall in Australia, featuring a funicular railway running up the hill to the ballroom from Breakfast Creek Road below. It hosted dances and concerts of all kinds, and during the Second World War it was commandeered by the US army who upon their departure refurbished the dance floor as a gesture of goodwill.

A venue for many Brisbane residents’ first dance or concert, Cloudland closed its doors in 1982 and was bought by a developer to build an apartment complex on the site. It was demolished without warning during the night of 7 November 1982. Of the building demolitions that took place in Brisbane during the office of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Cloudland’s is perhaps the most controversial.

“All we leave behind are the memories” was the motto of the Deen Brothers, the company brought in to demolish the building. The blurred, dreamlike quality of Peter O’Doherty’s painting Cloudland (2015) seems to illustrate the lingering, romanticised presence of Cloudland in the city’s collective memory.