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.