Regent Theatre, Wollongong, Heritage-listed former cinema in Wollongong, Australia

The Regent Theatre on Keira Street is a former cinema with striking geometric designs in the Art Deco style. The interior features plaster-decorated ceilings with intricate cross-hatch patterns that showcase the decorative craftsmanship of the era.

Herbert Jones bought the Keira Street land in 1934, and architect Reginald Magoffin submitted plans in 1935 for a 1,569-seat theatre. Progress stalled through the late 1930s and the war years, and the building finally rose between 1950 and 1954. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 9 May 2005.

The name Regent followed the convention of Herbert Wyndham Jones's circuit, whose family ran film shows in the Illawarra from the Princess Theatre at Corrimal in 1930. At the Civic Theatre he introduced deaf aids, Australian productions, foreign-language films from 1953 with La Ronde, and VistaVision in 1954, practices he carried to the Regent.

The former theatre stands at 197 Keira Street, set back from the street behind a courtyard, between Crown and Market Streets. The auditorium was placed at the rear of the site to reduce traffic noise from Keira Street and improve acoustics. The building is heritage-listed and not a working cinema, so check access before visiting.

Herbert Jones bought the Keira Street land in 1934 and had architect Reginald Magoffin submit plans in 1935 for a theatre 130 by 84 feet behind an open courtyard. The built result bore little resemblance to the ambitious 1936 scheme of 1,569 seats, dressing rooms and a fly tower.