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SPEECH BY CHRIS SOURRIS

On behalf of the Sourris Family and our joint
operational partners, Birch Carroll and
Coyle, I welcome everyone here tonight in
joining us to celebrate this momentous
occasion - celebrating 100 years of the
Strand Theatre.
The original theatre opened 15 April 1916
and one can only imagine, with the
building’s height and grandeur, it may have
been the tallest and a focal point within
Toowoomba’s skyline.
On the 7 July 1959, my late father Peter
Sourris purchased at auction the Strand
properties, which consisted of the Strand in
the middle, the Crown Hotel on the corner
Guests and former staff gather in the foyer
and an arcade of government offices on the
left, which later became the 5-Star
Amusement Centre.
My father was an original travelling picture
showman in the late 1930s - early 1940s,
who toured south west Queensland with a
small truck, portable projector and a movie
which he screened at small country towns.
During the late 1950s and 60s, movie the-
atres suffered difficult times with the intro-
duction of television. Many closed. Little
did we know that a few years later another
impact would hit the industry hard… colour
television… which at the time, television
sets were very expensive, so patrons stayed
home to help pay off their new toy. Again,
many surviving theatres closed.
Ian Mills presenting gifts to the Sourris Family. L to R: Ian Mills (Area Mgr, Event Cinemas), Marie We fought the challenges and just as the
Sourris, Chris Sourris, Lee Bambrick and Courtney Watts (Assistant Managers, BCC Toowoomba) industry was again getting back on its
feet…along came video. This new movie
entertainment option closed many then-
surviving and struggling theatres. Some
within the industry believed it to be the final
chapter of cinema. But as we say “There’s
No Business Like Show Business”… “The
Show Must Go On”.
During the mid to late 1980s, it was evident
that single screen movie theatres faced many
head winds and to survive we as operators
needed to twin, triple or quad our screens to
offer greater varieties of choice.
About this time, I called upon a longstanding
friend of mine and one of Australia’s
foremost architects, Noel Robinson, to
design a four-screen complex on this site.
What a great job he did!
In about 1995 we realised and appreciated
that Toowoomba needed a specialised art
cinema. So we converted the former dress
Chris Sourris and Ian Mills outside the Strand entrance circle area into a boutique cinema. It is a
small, unique cinema with original walls
Many of the 1933 decorative elements, such as the attached pilasters constructed of rendered and pressed metal ceiling.
canvas over a timber frame, are simply fixed over existing surfaces. Lyrebird motif grilles of
gilded timber were adopted to cover the former window openings. The cinema brought activity back to
Margaret Street, whereas previously, every
Art Deco banding which once surrounded the proscenium remains only as a frieze, following second shop was empty. Restaurants and
widening of the stage in the late 1950s to accommodate a CinemaScope screen. The mezzanine coffee shops opened everywhere… and the
floor foyer features intact 1933 ceiling and wall grilles. street soon became known as “Eat Street”.
The Strand Theatre was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
In closing, I thank everyone for attending
Credits: Images: tonight and partaking in this historic
Ian Mills, Marie Sourris, CATHS Archive 100 year event… which happens only once
Wikipedia on-line encyclopedia Ian Mills in a lifetime.

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