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 Terraced ho ...

, , a suburb in the

inner west The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 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 ...

History

Kaberry and Chard Kaberry and Chard was an Australian architectural firm known for designing theatres, picture theatres and town halls from around 1920 until the end of 1939. It was based in Sydney, New South Wales, and designed many theatres in every state of A ...

, 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 (Currency symbol, sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 Shilling (Australian ...

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 (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

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, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

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 (actor), Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee an ...

'' 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