Like many of the projectors around at the time, the first projector held the first 40-60 minutes of the movie and the second projector held the next 40-60 minutes. This cinema contained a little pair of 16mm Bell & Howell movie projectors from the 1970s. It was truly a sight to see.Ĭinemas like these are rare and were mainly built by projectionists or enthusiasts,… and they would go all-out making their cinemas look as grand as possible! Its owner had decorated it with lengthy yellow and red cloth with foam and PVC cladding inset with golden ornamental accents. Nothing about the property gave any indication of what was inside.Īs we entered, we could see it had been meticulously transformed inside. They’re rare - only about 4 or 5 still exist in South Australia, so we were keen to take a look.įrom the outside, it looked just like any other suburban shed a grey square structure with galvanised cladding. We’d received a tip-off about a small cinema that was sitting disused in a suburban backyard. In 2018, The Windsor Theatre was purchased by The City of West Torrens Council, who then (later that year) applied for its demolition.Īn 11th-hour bid by the Friends of the Lockleys Memorial Centre to save The Windsor Theatre was pleaded for, however those prayers were silenced earlier this week with the last wall felled and the site leveled. The elusive hidden supper room and kitchen, unseen for 70 years, had been found. When opened it revealed a staircase leading down to a previously unexplored area.
Upon closer inspection of the original building plans, there was meant to be a “large supper room and kitchen under the stage … by means of easy graded stairs from the main floor level”.ĭuring demolition, the carpet in front of the stage area was taken up, revealing a curious hidden panel. We originally started exploring The Windsor Theatre 5 years ago.Īt the time we were told of an elusive hidden basement that nobody could find. Hundreds of original movie posters – some more than 50 years old – were incorporated into the wall, including 1972’s The Godfather, 1971’s Clint Eastwood classic Dirty Harry and 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia. Over the next 30 years, original movie posters were glued to the hallway wall as a future nostalgic look-back to the films that had been shown there. The hallway would later become the well known “Nostalgia WALK”. A hallway was built on the eastern side of the theatre as a separate entrance to the front stalls.
ABANDONED MOVIE UPGRADE
The final result was a fully carpeted foyer and stairs.Ī modern candy bar was built on the western wall of the foyer also incorporating the ticket box and the seating capacity was upgraded to accommodate 495 people.ġ953 saw a further upgrade of the theatre. That then entered into the theatre, and stairs to the left and right aisles were installed. The entrance into the auditorium was raised and a staircase to a landing 5 feet above the foyer floor was constructed. The original two front meeting rooms were restructured, leaving a vast foyer area. In the 1950s the theatre was substantially internally modified. (Source: Courtesy of the Brian Pearson Collection) The Hall was such a success as a movie theatre, The Windsor Group acquired it in October 1948, re-naming it The Windsor Theatre. On October 10 1925, the Lockleys Memorial Hall was used by Lyric Theatres Ltd to screen it’s first film.
If it wasn’t through various efforts, donations and fundraising activities from the local community, the Lockleys Memorial Hall may not have become a reality. Just under half that amount was raised by the people of Lockleys through various fundraising efforts. The Lockleys Memorial Hall was constructed in 1925 on land donated by John Mellor, for whom Mellor Park derives its name.
Soldiers Memorial Hall at Lockleys, c.1953 (Source: WTC) Originally a reserve and garden had been suggested, but the people had something more grand in mind. It all began in 1922, when the people of Lockleys decided to erect a memorial as a tribute to all those from the district who enlisted and died in World War 1.
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