… the oldest authentic silent movie theatre in the world
Pomona’s iconic 91 year-old Majestic Theatre is to have a re-birth with a business plan promising a bright future as the performing arts centre for the northern Sunshine Coast.
The Majestic Theatre was built by Pomona publican Myra Osbourne in 1921 as a multi-purpose entertainment hall for live entertainment, dancing and films. The new business plan continues this tradition with the aim of keeping heritage alive.
Silent films remain a critical component of the new business plan. The Majestic Theatre continues to be the only theatre in the world regularly playing silent films accompanied by the theatre organ.
The Majestic theatre is rare as one of the few pre-World War II picture theatres remaining in Queensland that have not been demolished or adapted to other uses. It is also Queensland’s longest continuously operating picture theatre. Although the Majestic Theatre was recently refurbished, its floor plan and design still illustrates the characteristics of a small rural picture theatre that has been adapted from a local hall. These characteristics include the hall’s original retail spaces and the supper room section on the southeast elevation.
Over the last 20 years the Majestic Theatre has developed a following of silent film enthusiasts, and its popularity ensured that the theatre’s refurbishment during 2006-2007 received financial support from private individuals and businesses as well as from the Local, State, and Federal governments.
The Majestic Theatre at 3 Factory Street Pomona, which
was originally built as a social hall with attached shops in 1921, has been promoted as the oldest authentic silent movie theatre in the world, and the longest continuously operating movie theatre in Australia.
Although the building’s fabric was extensively refurbished recently, the timber and fibrous cement sheeted building is still a rare, and functional, example of a pre-World War II country hall that was converted into a picture theatre. The land on which the Majestic Theatre stands was purchased in January 1921 by Clara Clara McDonald, who also financed the building of the hall.
The hall was designed to serve several functions: to show silent movies, for vaudeville productions, and to act as a social centre for the town. Over time it served as a venue for dances, balls, concerts, and wedding functions, roller skating, boxing, and church services.
Constructed of unseasoned milled hardwood, the hall was about 12 metres wide by 18 metres long, with seating for 198 people. It included a sprung dance floor of 3⁄4 inch crow’s ash timber, still extant today, and was raised on stumps to avoid flooding. On the left hand side was the
The Majestic Theatre at 3 Factory Street Pomona, which was originally built as a social hall with attached shops in 1921, has been promoted as the oldest authentic silent movie theatre in the world, and the longest continuously operating movie theatre in Australia.
Although the building’s fabric was extensively refurbished recently, the timber and fibrous cement sheeted building is still a rare, and functional, example of a pre-World War II country hall that was converted into a picture theatre. The land on which the Majestic Theatre stands was purchased in January 1921 by Clara Clara McDonald, who also financed the building of the hall.
The hall was designed to serve several functions: to show silent movies, for vaudeville productions, and to act as a social centre for the town. Over time it served as a venue for dances, balls, concerts, and wedding functions, roller skating, boxing, and church services.
Constructed of unseasoned milled hardwood, the hall was about 12 metres wide by 18 metres long, with seating for 198 people. It included a sprung dance floor of 3⁄4 inch crow’s ash timber, still extant today, and was raised on stumps to avoid flooding. On the left hand side was the
Majestic Café, which also served as general store before being used for storage from the 1930s, and the right hand side’s shop accommodated at various times a dentist, radio shop, and a mechanic. In the mid 1920s a supper room was added to the long southeast elevation of the hall, and this section was later extended to the northeast.
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