Page 7 - CinemaRecord #11R.pdf

The seats, projectors, and all other theatre equipment were sold off and after being vacant for some time, it was
purchased by a Shepparton business man. In the years since 1966, the building was u.sed as a restaurant, a
games room and some dances were held there, but it gradually fell into disrepair.
In 1982 the Kyabram Youth Club set about bringing the theatre back from the dilapidated state that many years
of neglect had left it in. The owner of the theatre was approached and told of our dream. Because of the poor
state of repair of the building it was decided that the Youth Club would get the theatre back into operation, at no
cost to the owner, in return for a free six month lease from the date of our first movie showing.

Our financial position was embarrassing to say the least. We had an empty building and nothing else, no
equipment or any other theatre material. The first job after acquiring the building was to find such equipment.
We were very lucky in acquiring the two Cummings and Wilson Model CPS 35mm projectors, new screen,
curtains, sound system and electrical parts, from the Eildon Theatre. That theatre was originally set up by the
Utah Mining Co. in the late 1940's, to entertain the workers during the construction of the Eildon reservoir until
it closed in 1978.

Twenty committee members with trucks and trailers, set out at 3 a.m. one frosty morning, to retrieve our new
found equipment. After many phone calls across Victoria, we found some seats at the Metro in Collins Street
Melbourne. So once again our committee people set out to retrieve the seats. Collins Street would have been
buzzing for days with stories about the hillbillies and their stock crates. These seats had to be dismantled into
four parts each, and then loaded onto the truck. They then had to be re-assembled and installed in our empty
theatre. With countless hours of voluntary labour by our committee members, service clubs, and local
tradespeople, the theatre was once again in the business of entertaining the people of Kyabram and surrounding
districts, reopening as the "Plaza" in October 1983.

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In 1988 the Theatre Committee asked the Kyabram Town Council to buy the Plaza • The Council received a
bicentennial project grant of $13,200 to be matched by the Council. A further $20,000 from the Theatre
Committee's savings and $35,000 raised by a public appeal organised by the Theatre Committee. The balance
was from a bank loan, serviced by the rent paid by the Theatre Committee and the two shops at the front of the
theatre. The Theatre Committee then became a Committee of Management under Council.

The Committee decided to approach the Victorian Ministry of the Arts with the idea of making the theatre into
a performing arts centre. The idea was formed because of the lack of a top class theatre anywhere in the
Goulburn Valley. The Ministry of the Arts suggested that Mr. Dennis Irving (theatre consultant of Entertech)
inspect the theatre to verify the feasibility of the idea. His report praised the building and the idea of a regional
performing arts centre. His recommendations to make the theatre capable of presenting a high quality production,
with adequate stage, excellent lighting and raked seating of 431, was enthusiastically endorsed by the Kyabram
Council.

In the seven years since 1988, the theatre has undergone a complete transformation. A full sized stage house
and flytower were built with the addition of two modern and well appointed dressing rooms. The stage was
constructed to be able to take the weight of a car, while also being a sprung stage suitable for ballet. An
orchestra pit was constructed and the old Metro seats were once again dismantled and removed, this time to
be re-upholstered. The entire theatre interior was painted and decorated by Committee volunteers (saving the
town $60,000), and when the new carpet was laid the theatre came to life.

During construction of the raked seating floor, electrical and technical volunteers installed in excess of five
miles of electrical cable. In 1994 a state of the art lighting and sound reinforcement system was installed,
making the Plaza Theatre one of the most technically well equipped theatres in Australia. In April 1995, the
committee purchased a thrust stage to extend the existing stage out over the orchestra pit. This will enable us
to host full sized orchestras on the main stage.

The Eildon projection equipment has now been replaced by a pair of Century projectors from the Stawell Drive-
In (ex Clayton Drive-In), and matched with a pair of new Strong Lume-x 1600 watt Xenon lamp houses. The
sound system includes surround sound and incorporates a hearing loop within the auditorium. The only major
requirement left is the air conditioning for the building. This is where we are at present- on the verge of a most
exciting era in our region's history. The Plaza has indeed been reborn from the ruins.

(1) Kyabram by W. Bossence (2) Kyabram Free Press 24.5.29 (3) Everyones 17.6.31 (4) Kyabram Free Press 13.10.66
(5) Kyabram Free Press 27.1 0.66, 10.11 .66 (6) Kyabram Free Press 17.5.83 (7) Kyabram Free Press 1988