West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Thursday 26 August 1937, page 14


NEW FREMANTLE THEATRE. Building to Cost £20,000. A local company, known as Hoyls (Fre mantle), Ltd. has been formed to build and conduct a picture theatre at the corner of High and Queen streets, Fre mantle. The new theatre which, it is claimed, will be the most modern in the State, will cost £20,000 and will provide seating accommodation for 1,300 persons The company, which was registered yes-terday, consists of local shareholders in conjunction with Hoyts Theatres, Ltd., of Melbourne. The directors of the new company are Mr. S. W. Perry, O.B.E. (chairman), Mr. S. J. McGibbon and Mr. H. W. J. Sampson. The rest of the local shareholders are well-known Fre-mantle business men. An announcement of the formation of the company was made last night by Mr. Perry, who is resident manager in West-ern Australia for Hoyts Theatres, Ltd. He said that it was the first local com-pany of the kind to have a substantial company like Hoyts Theatres, Ltd., be-hind it in any venture in Western Aus-tralia. The site of the new theatre was an historic one. On it the old Rose ond Crown Hotel was erected in 1830. The building still stood and was used until recently as a boarding house. The pro-perty was purchased by the new company a few days ago. The company would have the advantage of the management and the whole organisation of Hoyts Theatres, Ltd., the largest exhibitors of motion pictures in Australia. This as-sociation ensured that the local company would have an ample supply of first-grade films for exhibition in the new theatre. The architects for the building would be Messrs. H. Vivian Taylor and Soilleux. of Melbourne, who had been responsible for all the latest theaters built in Victoria for Hoyts Theatres, Ltd., in-cluding the Windsor Theatre, Windsor, the Padua Theatre. Brunswick, and the new theatre at Albury. Plans for the new theatre bad been prepared. Demoli-tion of the building on the site would begin almost immediately, and tenders for the erection of the theatre would be invited within the next three or four weeks. Construction, it was expected, would take about six months. Plans for the new theatre, Mr. Perry said, incorporated all the best features of modern picture theatre design. The new structure would be similar in design to the Windsor Theatre, Melbourne. Like that theatre it would have a "crying room," in which mothers could take their babies and feed them, and hear and see the pictures without any noise being heard outside. The theatre would have stage space and equipment for vaudeville acts, and also for the presentation of plays. It would seat 1,300 persons and would be the biggest suburban theatre in the State. It would be an imposing modernistic structure, with a tower ris-ing 60 feet from the ground. One fea-ture would be a foyer entrance of circular design with entrances to the stalls, and a staircase rising to a dress circle foyer leading from it. The dress circle foyer would be of the same size and design as that on the ground floor.