2018-04-10 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                   10 APRIL 2018




The Majestic Theatre was built as a Social Hall in 1921. It is believed to be the oldest authentic
silent movie theatre in the southern hemisphere and the longest continuously operating movie
theatre in Queensland.

The property is noted as a building of state heritage significance and registered on the Qld
Heritage Register as Place ID 602696.

In addition to showing movies, the hall/theatre has served a broad range of social functions for
the people of Pomona and the surrounding district including hosting theatrical and vaudeville
productions and providing a venue for dances, balls, concerts, weddings, roller skating, boxing,
school plays, and church services. For almost a hundred years, it has provided an important
social service to people in the Noosa Shire, providing entertainment, stimuli for the imagination,
relief from isolation, and a window into popular culture.

It had several operators between 1921 and 1973 including Harold ‘Picture’ Page and Ernie
Bazzo. In 1973, Ron and Mandy West introduced the Travelling Film Festival to the Majestic.
The Wests subsequently purchased the building in 1974. In 2006, Ron West sold the Majestic to
the Pomona Progress Arts Tourism Association after which the building underwent a major
refurbishment.

The building’s heritage value lies in the fact that it is one of the few remaining pre-WWII picture
theatres in Queensland, as the majority of other rural picture theatres have been demolished or
adapted to other uses.

In particular, the Majestic demonstrates the evolution of film exhibition venues in Queensland
whereby community halls were used to show pictures, prior to converting the hall into a picture
theatre, or constructing a purpose-built cinema.

The Majestic is also significant in that the theatre’s floor plan and design (such as the bio-box
and gallery and elements of the original hall including the retail spaces and supper room) have
not been drastically altered and retain the key characteristics of a small rural picture theatre.
Additionally, the theatre is also important for its special association with silent film.




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