THE CINEMA JOURNEY AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

The challenge of establishing a cinema in West Wyalong and bringing the magic of movies back to the community started in October 2016 when Ron and Barry Cooper decided to undertake that challenge.

Their initial action was to explore the Temora Town Hall Theatre project and the first point of contact was Kris Dunstan at Temora Shire Council in what was a productive meeting. Ron and Barry came away from that meeting convinced Temora was a good business model, having been, at that time, in existence for eight years. They were also convinced the cinema could be replicated within the Masonic Hall, which was viewed as being an ideal venue because of its size, location close to Main Street and its large car parking area – an important requirement in any new development.

Then came the biggest and most important challenge of all “how do we pay for the project?”

The NSW Government was viewed as being a good starting point for funding and council lodged a submission for a grant through the Minister for Arts. Ron and Barry then thought Evolution Mine might be interested in this type of community project and the initial meeting with the company’s local representatives was positive.

The first requirement was a concept plan of the interior of the cinema and Evolution agreed to meet the cost of having the drawing prepared by Council’s Heritage adviser and architect, David Scobie. Evolution Mine has continued to be a great supporter of the cinema proposal ever since those initial meetings.

The NSW Government awarded a grant of $450,000 towards the cost of the cinema and this was the catalyst to launch the project. Over time, the Federal Government ($150,000) and Evolution Mine ($300,000) became major stakeholders along with Bland Shire Council.

It has literally taken five years of patience and persistence to reach the milestone of the reborn Tivoli Theatre being officially opened on Saturday, December 11.

The Tivoli Management Committee decided, in its wisdom, to resurrect the name Tivoli Theatre, which had been part of the West Wyalong community for more than 70 years, during which time it had been owned and operated by the Bylos family and later by Don Douglas.

The Tivoli West Wyalong will bring to life an iconic name that was, from the early to mid-1900’s, the hub of entertainment in the town.

The reborn Tivoli is an 82-seat community cinema and theatre, developed as a refurbishment of the ground floor of the historic and landmark Masonic Hall, which will celebrate a century of existence in 2023.

The original Tivoli Theatre was a beautiful old building designed and built by the same builders who constructed the famous Tivoli Theatre in Castlereagh Street, Sydney: hence the name.

It was designed for stadium-style seating with a capacity of 850 seats and it stood justly proud in the West Wyalong community. As well as being the local cinema the Tivoli doubled as the Town Hall where all descriptions of meetings, art shows, talent quests, debutante balls, wedding and birthday celebrations were held.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL TIVOLI WEST WYALONG…

Today’s proud but much smaller 82-seat version will carry on the rich history of its predecessor, and while screening latest release movies is its core business, it will be a multi-use venue available for hire for private functions, public meetings, art exhibitions, charity events, conferences and small musical and drama productions.

It will be operated by a small management committee and a team of local volunteers, who will be at the core of the ongoing success of the Tivoli as they take on the roles of supervisors, ticket sellers, candy bar operators and ushers, working on a roster basis.

See you at The Tivoli!

FROM THIS…TO THIS!

Check out the beautiful lights in the hallways when you come to The Tivoli. They are the original lights from the Masonic Hall and have been carefully restored and perfectly hung to light up the halls of the new Tivoli.