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93. CIVIC CINEMA/CIVIC THEATRE- GOONDIWINDI by Gerry Kennedy

Goondiwindi is situated Queensland, on the New South Wales border. The town is 360 tans from Brisbane and the district
population is about 5,000.

The Civic Theatre- The first Phase
The Goondiwindi Town Hall/Cinema was built in 1934 as pan of the Civic Centre in the main shopping centre. fts construction
was funded as part of unemployment relief. The fonner Council chambers and the administration offices are situated to
the left of the Town Hall. A prominent clock tower was built over the entrance to the civic offices.

Poured concrete was the medium of construction and the Dutch gabled roof is covered with corrugated cement sheeting.
The hall was built as a single level, flat-floored auditorium. The hall was opened as a cinema and traded as the Civic
Theatre.

Goondiwindi Civic Theatre with Shire offices under the clocktower

Three shops were built at the front of the Civic; two on the left and one on the right hand side of the theatre entrance. An
ornate art deco archway and parapet leads into the arcade entrance to the Town Hall foyer and auditorium. The arcade is
attractively decorated with vertical nuted plaster and beige ceramic tiles to the walls and terrazzo tiles cover the gentle
slope of the arcade floor.

A session ticket box was included on the left side of the arcade whilst an advance booking /managers office was on the
right hand side. An entrance to a stairway to the original projection room was also off the arcade. The arcade opened into
a full width foyer with central rear access doors to the auditorium.
The auditorium featured fluted plaster bas-relief motives above the side wall windows and to the stepped proscenium.
Most of these panels incorporate the letter C (for Civic). The colour scheme was cream with mid green applied to the
panels and fluting. The ceiling. and its full-length ventilators, are made from a canejte type of material. Grill work covered
the window spaces. The vertical wall mounted opaline lead lights are still used to day.

The small stage area was spartan with minimal theatre facilities. Two dressing rooms were located to stage right. Gold
velour stage curtains were installed. The Civic Theatre is currently heritage listed and cannot be demolished.

The Civic Theatre seated 600 and, for most of its life, was operated by R.J. Watson. The Estate of R.J. Watson and finally
Watson Pictures. These family interests also ran the other Goondiwindj theatre, Empire Pictures (600 seats), which was