The formerPlaza Theatre inSydney,New South Wales is aheritage-listed building designed as a 2000-seatcinema byEric Heath for theHoyts Group, and opened in 1930. It is no longer used as a cinema.
The building is located at 600George Street, Sydney on the western half of the block bounded by Wilmot Street and Central Street to the sides andPitt Street to the rear. It is a prominent feature of the entertainment sector's streetscape.
The Plaza Theatre was built during agolden age of cinema-going in[Australia and was opened on 11 April 1930,[1] designed as a 2000-seatcinema byEric Heath forHoyts.[2]
The theatre's organ was built circa 1923 by theRudolph Wurlitzer Company ofNorth Tonawanda, New York and was installed at the Plaza in 1937 from the Wintergarden Theatre, Brisbane. It was removed around 1968 and the console was relocated to a private residence inHarris Park, New South Wales.[3]
By 1950 cinema attendance had declined, further affected by the introduction of television in 1956. Many suburban cinemas closed down and in the city a number of theatres were demolished for redevelopment. In 1977 the Plaza was closed as a cinema and the foyer was converted to aMcDonald's and the auditorium was converted to a skating rink, concert venue and restaurant. A Heritage order prevented its demolition until 1995 when the auditorium becamePlanet Hollywood. That area is now a licensed bar.[4]
The building was constructed in the years 1929 and 1930 by the building firm James Porter & Sons and to a design by Eric Heath. The brickwork facade is rendered in a rough caststucco giving an exaggerated texture. The raised decorative detailing is in precast concrete. There are five floors. including abasement. and the three-storeyfacade above theawning issymmetrical. It is dominated by a threewindow fourCorinthian columnloggia. The columns are supported on pedimented brackets and finish in anentablature incorporating spiral [urn]s. The individual windows are topped by decoration, and the north-west corner ischamfered.[5]
The building is an example of central Sydney's inter-war building boom in theatre buildings and one of a handful of central Sydney's surviving theatre buildings.[2]
The building is of historic significance at aState level due to its ability to reflect the inter-war boom period ofpicture palace buildings in Sydney and for its contribution to the development of Sydney's George Street cinema precinct. It is an example of theSpanish Mission style and is particularly notable for its externalBaroque detailing. It is listed on the Heritage Register of New South Wales[2] as well as theRegister of the National Estate.[1]
The majority of the interior detailing has been lost since the building's demise as a cinema, although remnants remain in the McDonald's restaurant that is now in sections of the originalfoyer.[6] These include sections of the beamedceiling, typical Spanish motifs and coloured and stencilled floral motifs on the ceiling.[7] Sections of thepolychrome stencilled ceilings in the auditorium remain.
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33°52′32″S151°12′25″E / 33.875428°S 151.206813°E /-33.875428; 151.206813