1/13/2024 0 Comments French door screen curtainThrough a padlocked door opens a world of memories despite all the changes over the years, the guts of the venue always remained the same, with the two separate rooms that once housed the theatres. I had the opportunity to walk through the old complex on Monday. The site on High Street has housed a number of venues since, from Stepping Out theatre restaurant to Phriction and Bloc nightclubs, as well as Mojo Lounge.Īnd these days? Well, my friends, these days this beauty of Penrith’s past sits in the centre of our city, unused and all but abandoned. There had been a plan from the team that worked at the cinema, including Steve Maggs, to run it independently and for the site’s life as a movie theatre to continue, but a prominent local business identity pulled out of his plans to back the venture. A lot of the seats, projectors and screens went to the Richmond Regent, which they used in the twinning of that cinema. The Panthers complex fell through, but the Hoyts complex went ahead and the rest, as they say, is history.Īfter the High Street cinemas closed, the complex was stripped of its fittings. It was thought the first to open would be the winner. At the same time Reading Cinemas were planning a large complex at the Panthers Leagues Club and there were the plans for the cinemas in the Plaza. This was to be a big redevelopment of the Lawson Street site. Hayden Theatres advertised Hayden 8 opening for Christmas in 1992. Photo: Melinda Jane.Īs Maggs notes, there had been a big battle to build three cinema complexes at the same time back in the early 1990s. We had not advertised that we were closing so the audience had no idea they were going to be the last people to watch a film there.” The entrance to the cinema as it stands today. Both audiences gave me a genuine round of applause. “At the beginning of each film I walked to the front of the audience, welcomed them and told them we were closing,” he said. Steve Maggs, who these days manages a cinema complex in Brisbane, worked as the final usher on the last night 30 years ago. The cinemas opened as Penrith Twin in 1979, later becoming part of the Hayden Cinema Complex half of which was up the road on Lawson Street. ‘Accidental Hero’ and ‘Fortress’ screened at cinemas “3 and 4” on February 2, 1993, bringing down the curtain on a brief albeit memorable history of cinema at that location. The entrance to the Hayden Cinemas on High Street in 1984. Which brings me to a slice of Penrith history: It’s 30 years this week since the Hayden Cinemas on High Street in Penrith closed for the final time. Sure, Hoyts in Penrith desperately needs an upgrade to match its stablemate in Blacktown and the multiplexes of today don’t necessarily have the same magic as yesteryear, but I’m a sucker for tradition. The ability of the big screen to capture your full attention for two or so hours is something worth savouring. These days, I still get to the cinema about once a fortnight. Pretty much every ‘80s and ‘90s action flick you could think of. Streaming services nor the pandemic could kill off my love of going to the movies.Īs a kid, it was with my Dad almost every Saturday at the George Street complex in the city.
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