Page 6 - untitled
P. 6

A MEMBER WANDERING                                                   by Brian Miller


             Interstate Touring News  Conducted coach tours are not   ond fire saw the building of the Silver City in  1966/67. Jt
             designed for CATHS-V members who want to  investigate   seats over 800 although only the balcony was bei11g used, is
             cinemas in country towns.  The use of fifty seat coaches   fully air-conditioned and has an ultra stereo sound system.
             and by-pass highways means the road houses are as close   J saw a few minutes of"The Horse Whisperer" and it looked
             as you get to many settlements.                   spectacular on  a  large  CinemaScope screen  with  a  fully
                                                               curtained stage.  Mr.  Wren  also  informed  me  the modern
             A tour to South Australia in September 1998 did produce a   Broken Hill Entertainment Centre is built on the site of the
             few points of interest here and there. A lunch stop in Bendigo   earlier Ozone Theatre.
             allowed enough time for a sandwich and a visit to the fonner
             Plaza Theatre. The upstairs is used as a Sports Centre but   Broken  Hill  is an  interesting old town and  I asked for de-
             the original  Spanish-style  plaster ceiling and  part  of the   tails of the Theatre Royal Hotel. which has a very old hall
             prosceniwn have been carefully painted i11 attractive colours.   next door. This dates from  an  era when hotels sometimes
             Mike Purden's "CinemaRecord" articles detailing the Plaza's   had  a  music  hall  attached  for  vaudeville sl1ows. snooker,
             history have been  enlarged and mounted permanently on   boxjng. etc. Current use seemed to be as a bar and for func-
             boards  for  interested  visitors.  J was  also  assured  the   tions.
             downstairs foyer ceiling remains intact although hidden by
             a false ceiling in a retail store.                The South Australian  tOWll  of Peterborough  was once an
                                                               important railway junction. one  of the few in the world where
                                                               three different gauges met. Present population is around 2300
                                                               and the 1926 Town Hall is in good, near original condition.
                                                               Portable seating downstairs and fixed seating in the balcony.
                                                               The projection p01tholes were still there but films were to
                                                               be shown at the local football social club.

                                                               The  Jamestown  Pl.ayers  were  to  present  the  musical
                                                               "Brigadoon" in a forthcoming live show at the Town Hall.
                                                              Further down the main street. the imposing 1920's facade
                                                               of the Capitol Theatre featw·es  leadlight windows  with  a
                                                               CT logo on them. The Capitol was fim1ly locked up, appar-
                                                               ently facing an uncertain future.

                             Plaza Bendigo                    Two nights were spent at Hawker. gateway to the Flinders
                                                               Ranges. The Hawke1r lnstitutc Hall was then 105 years old
             Proceeding via the Calder Highway, only passing glimpses   and two ladies from the local auxiliary were busily prepar-
             of the  Charlton  Cinema and  the Wycheproof TOWll  Hall   ing for the 17th annual Hawker Art Show. This two-week
             before a late arrival in Mildura. No chance to see the Deakin   event attracts about 650 entries from throughout the State
             Twin Cinemas as we approached our motel.          and profits go to maintain the Hall. Anew supper room and
                                                               kitchen were added in recent years. Used as a cinema be-
                                                               fore television, a projection room and irs access stairs had
                                                               to be constructed within the hall, with vertical steel poles to
                                                               support it. Audiences enter the main door and walk under
                                                               the bio-box.













                            Charlton Cinema

             An eru·lier arrival next day in Broken Hill, where Mr. John
             Wren, Associate  Director of the Silver City  Cinema said
             tl1is is the third theatre to occupy it's site at 41  Oxide Street.
             The first was Johnson's Theatre and after a fiTe  it was re-
             placed by the Century, a Snider and Dean property. A sec-   Wests- Hindley Street  1993
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11