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The Regal Cinema was a one-man commercially operated single
screen cinema that showed a unique mix of films. It had been
housed in the Newcastle Council owned Birmingham Gardens-Heaton
Community Hall since 1950 and commanded a large and loyal
patronage of approximately 34,000 per year. The Regal Cinema
closed on 31st October 2006.
Clientele were mostly from the local and wider Hunter communities
(including Lake Macquarie, the Coalfields, Port Stephens and
Maitland). They included students from the nearby university,
those who sought more than the impersonal feel of the multiplexes,
younger families who wanted affordable entertainment, and
the elderly who appreciated the personal attention given by
the proprietor, Bruce Avard.d.
It was used by a wide variety of organisations for invariably
successful fund-raising events.
The cinema showed a wide variety of new, old, foreign, and
'art house' film, frequently with extended seasons. Bruce
invariably provided an introductory talk prior to a screening.
The cultural significance of the Regal to the Newcastle community
and the region is well documented.
The Cinema was Listed in the 'Cultural Heritage of Movie
Theatres Register in New South Wales 1896 - 1996' by the Department
of Architecture at the University of Sydney in 1997.
It is listed as an item of interest on the Newcastle Local
Environmental Plan 2003 and was classified by The National
Trust of Australia in October 2006.
In December of 2010 we secured a grant of $141,700 towards
the refurbishment of the building under the NSW Government
Community Building Partnership scheme.
We are working with Newcastle City Council (the owners of
the building) and an alliance of film industry professionals
to reopen the cinema as a community-operated facility incorporating
education and training programmes.
We meet at the Jesmond Neighbourhood Centre, 44 Mordue
Parade, Jesmond, (adjacent to the rear of the shopping centre
car park) at 6.00 pm on the third Wednesday of each month.
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