Page 34 - CR

TASMANIAN
ODYSSEY

19 - 30 March, 2012
th
th
Report by Ross King
ith a full complement of excited After settling into our accommodation very
Wparticipants, (including Jim and near to the site of the former Devonport Starlite
Suzanne from Canada along with Colin Drive-In, we ventured across the estuary for an
and Val Kennett from South Australia) the inspection of the C-Max Cinema Complex.
CATHS tour group arrived at Launceston The four cinemas are comfortable and well
airport on the most perfect of autumn days. appointed, fast converting to the digital format
allowing unique programming of international
After the two 12-seat buses were loaded, and live performances for north coast cinema-
we were on our way, the first “theatre” call goers. This was one of the first so equipped
was at Westbury where anyone who planned under Federal Government sponsorship
to misbehave was threatened with the pillory Sheffield. to bring international entertainment
located on the village common. to rural communities.

Here we visited the 1933 Westbury Town Following a lunch break and poke around the
Hall, wherein the former picture-theatre town shops, we made our way to the Sheffield
was operated by the Star Theatre company. Hall. Constructed in1914, the building
Access to the hall revealed a well maintained reflects the Edwardian style, internally
art-deco multi-purpose set up, complete with complete with bracket supported ‘U’ shape
American styled entrance, ticket box and timber gallery. Here we noted the first of
lobby. Further along the road a Victorian hall the Wunderlich pressed metal ceiling panels,
building (c 1832), now the RSL, suggested the first of many to be seen in Tasmania. The C-Max.
this to be the exhibition location for the now unused bio-box remains in situ, the hall
travelling showman of days gone by, pre- being well maintained, a great community
dating the Town Hall. asset and testimony to the Great War. Within a stones throw of the C-Max
complex, the externally intact former Star
From here it was all down hill to Devonport, Theatre (Cinema One) building now houses
passing through lush countryside and the Reject Shop and an upstairs gymnasium.
hedgerows that so reflect Tasmania’s Elements of the art-deco plasterwork ceiling
English origins. and walls are still visible upstairs.

Westbury.

As no-one needed to be pilloried, the next stop
was the Town Hall at Deloraine, another on
the Star Theatres Circuit. Although we were
unable to gain access to the building, extensive
modernisation has been carried out to convert
the former Town Hall into the Meander
Performing Arts “Little Theatre”.

Deloraine.

Continuing westward en-route to Devonport,
we arrived at Sheffield at the foot of the
Western Tiers - the town now most known
for its many scenic murals, and Flo Bejelke- Devonport Star.
Peterson’s pumpkin scones.

34 2012 CINEM AREC ORD