Strand Theatre, Movie theater in Toowoomba, Australia.
The Strand Theatre at 159–167 Margaret Street is a three-storeyed rendered brick building with a hipped corrugated iron roof hidden behind a shaped gable parapet. Its symmetrical facade centres on a large semi-circular arch flanked by quatrefoil windows, with a turret above the entrance holding three circular leadlight windows and a statue of a female figure holding a lamp. The second floor has five arched windows with Art Nouveau leadlight panels.
Toowoomba alderman James Patrick Newman commissioned Brisbane architect George Henry Male Addison to design the theatre in 1915, and Luke Halley built it in 1915–16 on the site of the Crystal Palace Picture Gardens. It opened on 15 April 1916 with Gallipoli footage. In 1933 Sydney architect Guy Crick refitted the interior in art moderne style.
This venue remains central to Toowoomba's entertainment life, drawing locals and visitors who gather here for film screenings ranging from major releases to smaller productions. The space continues to serve as a social hub where people come together to share the cinema experience.
The theatre stands at 159–167 Margaret Street, fronting the street on its south side, next to where the Crown Hotel once stood. The entrance sits beneath a cantilevered metal awning at street level, with display arches on either side. The 1992 redevelopment placed four small cinemas around the original auditorium, whose pressed metal ceiling and tessellated foyer tiling survive.
The third storey was built as extra accommodation for the adjoining Crown Hotel, also owned by James Patrick Newman, and reached by a staircase from the hotel. The former hotel rooms keep four-inch tongue-and-groove boarding and pressed metal ceilings; the area is now sealed off.
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