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Strand Theatre is a heritage-listed cinema at 159 - 167 Margaret Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George Henry Male Addison and built from 1915 to 1933 by Luke Halley. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. == History == This three-storeyed brick picture theatre was erected in 1915-16 for James Patrick Newman, a Toowoomba City alderman.〔 It was constructed during the early and enthusiastic adoption of cinema by Australian audiences in the first two decades of the 20th century, when the new nation boasted a truly vibrant local film industry which competed healthily with imported British and American product. Its construction was illustrative of the early 20th century attempt to legitimise cinema as a respectable middle-class entertainment in Australia.〔 In 1915 Newman commissioned established Brisbane architect George Henry Male Addison to design a picture theatre on a site in Margaret Street adjoining the Crown Hotel. This site had operated as the Crystal Palace Picture Gardens since early 1914. Addison called tenders in July 1915, and the contract was awarded to Luke Halley.〔 The American-derived design was similar to picture theatres erected in other Australian cities during the 1910s. In particular, the large semi-circular glazed arch was reminiscent of the Majestic (1912) and Britannia (1913) in Melbourne and the Pavilion (1913) in Brisbane. It was, however, unorthodox in that the top level was designed as additional accommodation for the Crown Hotel, which was also owned by JP Newman. This third storey was accessed via a staircase from the hotel.〔 Newman leased the theatre to moving picture exhibitor Senora Spencer, who named the venue the Strand, like her theatres in Brisbane and Newcastle. The first screening, which was accompanied by the Strand Symphony Orchestra and an opening ceremony performed by the Mayor of Toowoomba, took place on the evening of Saturday 15 April 1916.〔 In 1918 the lease was taken over by Union Theatres, an early Australian distribution-exhibition conglomerate, who repainted and redecorated the theatre early in 1919, when the building was closed temporarily during the Spanish influenza epidemic.〔 From the mid-1920s the Strand was leased by independent exhibitors.〔 In mid-1930 sound projection equipment was installed and the theatre was host to some of Toowoomba's earliest "talkies".〔 In 1933 the owners of the Strand arranged with Birch Carroll & Coyle for Sydney architect and theatre designer Guy Crick, who was then designing Toowoomba's rebuilt Empire Theatre for Birch Carroll & Coyle, to revamp the interior of the Strand in art moderne (Art Deco) style. At the same time the first floor foyer and office space was extended to the upper level of a newly constructed two-storeyed building along the east wall.〔 So popular were movies during the depression that the Strand continued evening screenings throughout the renovations, although most of the daily matinees were cancelled. The newly refurbished theatre was opened officially in early December 1933, with the local newspaper claiming that the Strand was the first picture theatre in Australia to be refitted completely in the art moderne style.〔 The Strand flourished during the 1930s, proudly advertising "Always first with the latest and the greatest", and screened premier features from Fox, Paramount, Warner Brothers and United Artists to large audiences.〔 In 1957 the current owners acquired the theatre and introduced a wide screen format, and renovated the main foyer in the 1960s and again in the 1970s.〔 A major redevelopment of the theatre and the adjoining buildings was completed in 1992. The adjoining Crown Hotel and the amusement centre were demolished and four small cinemas were erected around the original cinema which was stripped of seating and refurbished to become a large foyer for the new cinema complex.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Strand Theatre, Toowoomba」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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