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Zimbabwean-born GP Alex Stevenson was never going to let something as trifling as treating someone who was having a heart attack impede on his championing of Queenstown, near the west coast of Tasmania.

In 2008 one of Dr Stevenson’s patient was a tourist. Her tenure on life was under review but she was in the Queenstown hospital and far from the end of her contract. During the procedure Mr Stevenson stole a glance out the hospital window. Then he asked his patient to accompany him outside. She was not going to miss what he had come to covet.

Dr Stevenson, 35, and wife Alice came to Queenstown via South Africa, Britain and Hobart five years ago. Their home is furnished with views towards Mount Lyell and Mount Sedgwick and thousands of trees. Queenstown however is perhaps best known for some of its almost tree-less hills. This legacy is from the early 20th century mining practices. The view of them can be eerie and tragic but there is also a captivating beauty.

“People say to me, ‘Isn’t Queenstown that the place with no trees?’” Dr Stevenson has a ready answer for that over-cooked gruel. “I tell them where ever you live we’ve got 10 times more trees than that”.

Some mornings during the Stevensons’ breakfast Lyell and Sedgwick put on a double act and with the innate timing of memorable duos explode into luminous pink. Occasionally the valley is a sea of fog but “two ruby-like islands”, the peaks of the mountains, stick out from it. “It is just so spectacularly beautiful,” says Dr Stevenson.

Some evenings, before the curtain is drawn on the day, Mount Owen also glows pink. According to Dr Stevenson this is no less arresting. And a fine antidote for troubles of the heart perhaps.

“Last year I had a patient, an English woman, who was having a heart attack. Now it’s not every day that it [Mt Owen] glows. I saw out the window that it was and we stopped the whole emergency procedure. I took her outside and said ‘look at that’.”

You, er, stopped life saving to take in a view? “It wasn’t life and death. But she was having a heart attack. We could spend a minute to go out and look at Mt Owen. It was worth it. She agreed. She said it was the best thing of her whole holiday in Australia.”

When Dr Stevenson isn’t talking up the beauty of his adopted home or doing anything so trifling as saving lives he speaks with considered grace about Queenstown’s community. He gives the impression he will be eternally thankful for it, that it is a source of comfort for him and his wife, part of the Zimbabwe Diaspora. “Young people speak to old people. People look out for each other. It’s very important.”

Dr Stevenson has added considerably to the fabric of his west coast community. When he arrived the town’s Art Deco Paragon theatre was lying dormant. Built in 1932 the Paragon was a product of the town’s underground riches. The 1,150 seat picture theatre - with the motto ‘The city theatre in the country'- was for many years the town’s main contact with happenings in the rest of the world.

The theatre closed in 1984 and was for a time an indoor cricket centre.

Soon after his arrival Dr Stevenson was looking around for a large shed to begin preparations for an eco-tourism venture. “You could buy a house in Queenstown for $6000. I got the theatre at an absolute bargain.” The roof was caving in. No matter, in time it would make a fine, large shed.

He pitched his shed plans to long-time Queenstown artist Annette van Bethlehem. She, however, convinced him that the building was a theatre and mustn’t be used for any other purpose.

Dr Stevenson juggled GP duties with the role of project manager and chief financier of the Paragon transformation. It is difficult to imagine there was ever time to take in those views for on Christmas Eve (2008) Mrs Betty Beattie (nee Callow) who was an usherette at the Paragon in the 1930s cut a ribbon and declared the theatre re-open.

The Paragon is a luxe version of its former self and seats just 60 people. During the extensive five year refurbishment the Queenstown community returned items which had been removed and provided old photographs.

The result is a theatre faithful to its past (traditional 35mm projectors) but with modern luxuries: leather sofas, DVD and video as well as a contemporary bar and snacks menu. The Paragon’s commercial opening was on 13 February when Burn after Reading along with the reinvigorated theatre featured.

Now the Paragon rescue is complete Dr Stevenson has dared let himself consider stage ‘B’ of his plan: to make a film about the West Coast for tourists and show it at the theatre.

Dr Stevenson is still friends with Ms van Bethlehem. The prize winning artist Raymond Arnold is also a close mate. Together they are an integral part of the town’s burgeoning yet influential art scene. But the collective has further plans for Queenstown. You might hear of them at the movies.

www.discovertasmania.com is a comprehensive guide to Tasmania.

The information was correct when published in 2009. Prices and information may have changed.