The ''Enfield Savoy Theatre'' (previously the ''Enfield Cinema''; subsequently the ''Hoyts Savoy Theatre''; also known as the ''Enfield Savoy'') was a theatre and cinema located at 306-308

Liverpool Road Liverpool Road is a street in Islington, North London. It covers a distance of between Islington High Street and Holloway Road, running roughly parallel to Upper Street through the area of Barnsbury. It contains several attractive terraces o ...

, , a suburb in the

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region of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The building now functions as a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

History

Designed by the architectural firm Kaberry and Chard, the theatre was opened on 16 November 1927, with a seating capacity of 1,878. In 1928 Enfield Council valued the building at

A£ The pound (Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s ...

17,000. In 1930 there was an armed hold up at the theatre. In 1932, Western Suburbs Cinemas Ltd, a company which also operated the ''Strathfield Melba'' and ''Homebush Theatre'' in Sydney’s western suburbs took over management of the Enfield Savoy. The theatre was redesigned in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style in 1938. The façade and interior were rebuilt under guidance of architect G N Kentworthy who also designed ''Cremorne Orpheum'' Theatre and a Christie organ was added and was opened by organist Dennis Palmistra. The instrument was originally installed in the Hoyts De Luxe Theatre, Melbourne, then the Hoyts Plaza Theatre, Sydney. The cinema was renamed the ''Savoy'' and reopened by the Mayor of Enfield in July 1938. In 1944 Western Suburbs Cinemas Ltd was taken over by

Hoyts The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...

resulting in a name change to the ''Hoyts Savoy Theatre''. The last film shown at the cinema was ''

Some Like It Hot ''Some Like It Hot'' is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney and N ...

'' in 1960. It was converted into a carpet & furniture shop in 1981, and continues today as a plumbing & bathroom company.

Later years

After the cinema closed, the building had various retail uses including Shoppers World (1960), carpet and furniture store (1981), Quality House, Whitewood Warehouse, and the Poliak Building Supply Company. A campaign in 2017 to list the building on the local heritage register was unsuccessful.

History

Later years

References

Further reading