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CATHS Visits Reading Cinemas, Geelong

SUNDAY 31 JULY 2005
By Brian Miller
Geelong’s location near the entrance
to Port Phillip Bay and its road and rail
access to the agricultural riches of the
Western District, have helped to make
it the second largest city in Victoria.
Until 20 years ago, Waurn Ponds south
of Geelong was on the rural fringe of
the city. Today it is one of the fastest
growing residential areas, and
Reading’s choice for their 12th cinema
complex in Australia.
Reading Entertainment Inc. began as
a railroad company in the United States.
The Reading logo gives a nod to this
history: railway tracks morph into a strip
of film. Today Reading owns cinemas
and real estate in the USA, Puerto Rico,
Australia and New Zealand.*
Reading opened at Waurn Ponds in
March 2000. The multiplex is typical of
the company style: a prominent building,
adjacent to a shopping complex, and not
hidden inside it. Reading has revived a
cinema dictum from the twenties: take
the best site and put a stand-alone
building on it, (think Palais Pictures at
St Kilda). In fact the palm trees at the
wide entrance and its curved roofline
look very St. Kilda.
Fifty CATHS members were
welcomed at the door by Richard
Twentyman, one of the projectionists,
and a CATHS member. They toured the
complex, and settled in to the
comfortable seats of Cinema 6 to enjoy
films linked to a talk on drive-ins by
David Kilderry. Another highlight was a
presentation by consultant Nick Perry, Centre: A spacious approach to the cinemas. Ticket sales and candy bar are on the left.
recently returned from a trade Above: The separation between front stalls and stadium seating is well defined.
conference in Hollywood. (See box.) A shorter row gives more space while finding seats. Aisles are well lit.

6 2005 CINEMARECORD