heritage citation individual place

Extent Heritage Pty Ltd | 27/05/2020 1:44 PM 1

Heritage Citation – Individual Place

Place Name ‘Alhambra Theatre (former)’, 828 Sydney Road, Brunswick

Image

Address 828 Sydney Road, Brunswick VIC 3056

Study ID 19

Item Group Recreation and Entertainment

Item Type Cinema

Significance Level LOCAL – Already listed on the Heritage Overlay as HO243

Date Updated May 2020


Curtilage Map

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The former theatre at 828 Sydney Road, Brunswick (otherwise known as ‘Alhambra Theatre’) is significant. On the exterior, the gable roof form and three arched windows are significant. Some significant elements of the interior fabric are believed to remain in situ from its former use as a cinema, namely the mezzanine level, splay-sided proscenium and roof trusses. The subsequently added showroom, fronting Sydney Road, is not significant.

How is it significant?

Alhambra Theatre is of local historical significance to the City of Moreland and has rarity value as one of the last remaining early cinemas to survive in the municipality.

Why is it significant?

The Alhambra Theatre has historical significance as the third cinema to be built in Brunswick and as a pre-1920 cinema when this type of facility was rare. Further, it has been claimed that it was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Moreland and possibly the first picture theatre of this construction in Australia. (Criterion A)

The Alhambra Theatre is rare as one of only two pre-1920 cinemas to survive in the Moreland municipality. (Criterion B)


HERCON Criteria Assessment

A Important to the course or pattern of our cultural or natural history.

The Alhambra Theatre has historical significance as the third cinema to be built in Brunswick and as a pre-1920 cinema when this type of facility was rare. Further, it has been claimed that it was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Moreland and possibly the first picture theatre of this construction in Australia. Remaining features assist in demonstrating the historical significance of the place, including the roof form and arched windows to the exterior, and the mezzanine level, splay-sided proscenium and roof trusses which are believed to remain in situ to the interior.

B Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of our cultural or natural history.

The Alhambra Theatre is rare as one of only two pre-1920 cinemas to survive in the Moreland municipality.

C Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of our cultural or natural history.

The place does not meet this criterion.

D Important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places or environments.

The place does not meet this criterion. The building has been substantially altered and does not demonstrate principal characteristics of a theatre.

E Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics.

The place does not meet this criterion. The building has been substantially altered and retains no aesthetic significance.

F Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period.


G

Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of a place to Indigenous peoples as part of the continuing and developing cultural traditions.


H Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in our history.


Significance Level LOCAL – Already listed on the Heritage Overlay as HO243

Recommendations

Include on Heritage Overlay? Already listed on the Heritage Overlay as HO243. Update entry to include new information.

Include on Victorian Heritage Register? No

NB: the subject place has an existing Hermes entry (ID 60445).


Physical Analysis

The subject site consists of two key elements: the former theatre building to the rear, and a modern sales room fronting onto Sydney Road, reflecting its subsequent commercial uses.

The former theatre building is a double storey reinforced concrete structure with a corrugated iron clad gable roof housing a large timber gabled vent. The northern elevation has one large entrance for drive through tyre service connecting up to a matching opening on the southern entrance. The southern entrance has two other roller shutter door openings as well. The building retains three arched windows on the southern elevation from the former theatre (visible in the historic images below). Although the interior wasn’t inspected, it is understood that the main hall space of the former theatre is extant. All of the seating and theatre equipment has been removed, though the internal form of the auditorium remains broadly similar to what it was when operating as a theatre, complete with a mezzanine level, splay-sided proscenium and roof trusses.

The sales room is a single-storey brick and glass sales room fronting Sydney Road. The elevation facing Sydney Road was originally the main entrance and included a lobby area. The installation of the sales room removed the lobby and capped the former front façade. This showroom is a non-significant component of the site.

Overall, the condition of the building is good.

Condition Good Fair Poor

Alterations and Additions

▪ Removal of internal elements such as seating and theatre equipment*

▪ From 1961, the site was used for other purposes including an ice-skating rink and car salesroom (Moreland Thematic History, 2010)*

▪ Conversion of theatre to a mechanic called by Stuckey Tyre Service*

▪ Extension to the front of the building with large glass display windows, dated from the late 20th century. It is now used as a sales room*

The former Alhambra Theatre at 828 Sydney Road Brunswick, has been altered multiple times since its construction in 1914 seeing the loss of fabric such as the seating and theatre equipment. The auditorium form remains similar to what it was, complete with a mezzanine level, splay-sided proscenium and roof trusses, though the original theatre lobby has been replaced with a modern single storey shop-front.

Integrity High Moderate Low

* Denotes element that detracts from the cultural significance of the place.

Historical Notes

Construction year(s) 1914

Key theme Sustaining Moreland’s Community and Cultural Life

Key sub-theme Arts and Culture

The Alhambra Theatre was officially opened on the 24th November 1914. It was the first reinforced concrete structure in Moreland. When opened, the Brunswick and Coburg Leader described the Alhambra as a ‘commodious and modern theatre’, making Brunswick the proud owner of ‘one of the finest picture theatres in and around Melbourne’. Purpose-built as the third cinema in Brunswick, the owner and operator of the Theatre, Mr. Percy Allen, was prosecuted the year after its opening for operating an unclean premises. The Argus would print, ‘Percy Allen, proprietor of the Alhambra Picture Theatre, Sydney Road, Moreland, was charged at the Brunswick Court yesterday, before


Historical Notes

Messrs. Tierney, Atye, and Lord, J.Ps, with having certain premises at the theatre in a condition which was a menace to health’.

The Hermes entry states ‘Constructed in reinforced concrete, an innovative material at the time, it was one of the first buildings of this type in Melbourne, almost certainly the first in Moreland, and possibly the first as a picture theatre anywhere in Australia’ (Hermes ID 60445).

In the theatre’s heyday, the Alhambra was notorious as one of the early ‘flea-pit’ cinemas, with a stark concrete interior, open roof trusses, exposed galvanised iron and rudimentary seating. Comfortable plush-type cinemas did not emerge until the 1920s and 30s.

However, by 1921, all theatres included in what was the Crisp and Smith circuit owned by J.C. Williamson Films and Union Theatres, including the Alhambra, were bought out by Associated Pictures Pty Ltd, alongside a multitude of other theatres, including: The Empire and Lyric both in Brunswick; the Barkly, Grand and Trocadero Theatres in Footscray; the Lyric in Fitzroy, and the Thornbury Theatre in Thornbury.

Hoyts would later purchase the theatre, who would continue to operate the Alhambra until 1959 when it was transformed into an ice-skating rink, and eventually into a car showroom.

Currently, the site is used as a tyre sales outlet and mechanic.

Comparative Analysis

Although Alhambra Theatre is substantially more altered than other examples of its type within Moreland, having been constructed in 1914 it is rare as one of only two pre-1920 cinemas to survive in the Moreland municipality. There are many more extant examples of inter-war theatres as there were fifteen constructed across the municipality during that later period. Further, it has historical significance as the third cinema in Brunswick and is claimed to be the first reinforced concrete structure in Moreland. Comparatively, it is an early and historically significant example of this type in the municipality.

Key comparative examples within Moreland include:

▪ Former Liberty Theatre at 495 Lygon Street, Brunswick (Included within Lygon Street Precinct A HO435) was opened in 1934 and was independently operated until 1958. It was re-opened in 1963 as the Galaxy Cinema and this continued until 1986, when it became the Liberty Theatre once again. The Liberty Theatre was closed on 17th November 1987 and was converted into offices. It later became the Cyprus Club, which remains in operation.

▪ Star Cinema Theatre at 66 Brunswick Road, Brunswick (HO36) opened in c.1920 and is of local historical significance as a ‘relatively early example of an cinema established in a “primitive” factory like building, in keeping with the phenomenon of factories being converted at night into cinemas (e.g. Brunswick's first cinema (OxfordHall) in Penders Nail Factory c.1909), of which no evidence remains’(Hermes ID 59000). The building has been substantially altered.

▪ Western Theatre (Former) at 41-43 Melville Road, Brunswick West (HO111) was constructed in c.1929 and “of local historical and architectural significance. It was the longest serving cinema in Brunswick and remains the most intact of all Brunswick's former cinemas. Architecturally, it is a typical 1920s composition of classical elements with an unusual parapet which reflects the profile of the cinema roof behind.” (Hermes ID 59062).

References

▪ "CINEMA THEATRE DEAL" The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) 12 November 1921: 7.

Web. 6 Feb 2020 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242638099 .

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242638099


References

▪ Alhambra Theatre (1914, November 20). Brunswick and Coburg Leader (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2.

Retrieved February 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87756547

▪ Cinema Treasures, Accessed 13 February 2020 http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31900

▪ ITEMS OF INTEREST (1915, December 2). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 8.

Retrieved February 6, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1583094

▪ Moreland City Council (1990) Heritage Citation Report: Alhambra Theatre (former), Hermes ID 60445.

▪ Moreland City Council (1999) Heritage Citation Report: Star Cinema Theatre (Former), Hermes ID 59000.

▪ Moreland City Council (1999) Heritage Citation Report: Western Theatre (Former), Hermes ID 59062.

Limitations

1. Access to all heritage places was limited to a visual inspection from the public domain. The interiors of buildings and inaccessible areas such as rear gardens were not accessed as part of this heritage study.

2. Condition and site modification assessment was limited to a visual inspection undertaken from the public domain.

3. The historical notes provided for this citation are not considered to be an exhaustive history of the site.

Further Images

Overview from Sydney Road, showing western (front) and southern (side) elevations.

Overview of northern (side) elevation, including new shop addition to the front.


http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31900



Further Images

Southern (side) elevation.

Detail of original theatre windows.

Northern (side) elevation.

Partial interior as viewed from an entry along Donald Street, showing the interior wall of the original front façade of the theatre which is now fronted by the showroom (visible through the windows).

Source: Cinema Treasures, www.cinematreasures.org.theatres.52706.photos.174234

Source: Commercial Photographic Co (photographer) [Interior view of Alhambra Theatre, 1940.

http://www.cinematreasures.org.theatres.52706.photos.174234/

http://www.cinematreasures.org.theatres.52706.photos.174234/


Further Images

Aerial view extract from 1950, showing the Alhambra Theatre with its original front façade. Source: Pratt, Charles Daniel, and Airspy. Aerial View of Brunswick, Victoria / C. D. Pratt., 1950.

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