Woollahra Council held a lovely ceremony this morning, on a beautiful autumn day, to celebrate the placement of a plaque for the Wintergarden Theatre on the foothpath outside the present, very attractive Wintergarden apartments.
The plaque ceremony is part of Woollahra Council’s ongoing Plaque scheme, the purpose of which is to capture significant parts of a community’s local history for the benefits of locals. The Scheme is driven by locals nominating people or sites for commemoration with a plaque. Each year the Woollahra Plaques Committee recommends six nominations to Council.
Local resident Richard Davis nominated a plaque be made for the Wintergarden and his nomination was put before Council by architect and former Councillor Chris Howe.
The opening address at the ceremony was given by Councillor Anthony Marano who gave a brief history about the Wintergarden. Few will know that the Wintergarden was the venue for the first public screening of a talkie in a Sydney suburban cinema. The screening took place at the Theatre on the 10th June 1929. The then Governor of New South Wales Sir Dudley de Chair was in attendance.
At times during its history the cinema which had a seating capacity of 2,000 patrons had its own live Orchestra. The cinema had its most culturally influential period when when it hosted the annual Sydney Film Festival between the years 1967 to 1974, during which time David Stratton was President.
The Wintergarden struggled in its later years with the advent of new technologies and the cost of maintaining a large and ageing building. The theatre was sadly demolished in 1987 to the disappointment of many cinema buffs and locals
Other speakers at the plaque unveiling included film historian Ian Hansen whose book Sorry House Full colourfully traces the journeys of lost cinemas in Sydney, and an entertaining speech by Peter McCallum who spoke about his years being on staff at the cinema.
The official ceremony concluded with guests grabbing a glass of champagne and then witnessing the unveiling of the plaque with Councillor Anthony Marano, the Honourable Gabrielle Upton, and the nominee Richard Davis.
Everyone was then invited to Club Rose Bay for morning tea and conversation. Playing in the background, on a large television screen, was a selection of short films from the National Film and Sound Archive including footage of the Wintergarden.
This event had a special significance for me as the Wintergarden cinema was my local cinema growing up and I would often go there on weekends to see the latest arthouse movie. It was so pleasing to see that the great old cinema has now been memorialised by way of Council’s plaque.
Featured image- Councillor Anthony Marano addressing the gathering.