The " Renewal " Question ?

 A decision on the fate of an icon from an earlier era is splitting values across Sydney.   That icon is the Roxy theatre tucked away amongst the skyscrapers of Parramatta and one of the last remaining examples of the days when " motion pictures " were the new craze that had excited patrons rushing to buy tickets.

The " movies " were becoming the " talkies " when the Roxy was built in the 1930's and no expense was spared in building a theatre that offered comfort and size to moviegoers of that era., but today it is delapidated and vacant.  It would take big money to bring it back to life and there are suggestions of either demolition or turning it into a pub.

This coronavirus pandemic which has swept the world has been particularly unkind to the movie industry and the owners of theatres which show their films.    For most of the past year an imposed lockdown has seen new releases delayed and theatres closed.  There is the expectation that when the virus is finally defeated, the crowds will return, but that is no longer certain.

Vast improvements in screen size and sound attracted people to cinemas before the electronic era brought the movies to the small screen and widened the attractions offering.   We are now accustomed to a movie selection we can view in our own home or on the phone we hold in our hand when we are on the move. The cost to watch a movie of choice has vastly retreated from the price asked for a seat in one of those outdated theatres.

There is no doubt some people will return to the theatre with the big screen and surround sound, but whether the numbers will be profitable remains in doubt.  The movie industry has adapted to this small screen phenomenon and it delivers the advantage of speed.  Getting people into seats in cinemas took time which was measure in weeks.  Today the industry enjoys the benefit of new releases playing to instant audiences across the entire world.

There is also the expectation that this pandemic may linger.  It is showing a tendency to develop new characteristics as it explores the fundamentals of new hosts  and it is possible we may require periodic updates of vaccines to keep these new versions of coronavirus under control.   Our future may envisage crowd avoidance as a way of personal isolation in which attending theatres would be deemed unhealthy.

We are on the cusp of a new generation of electronics as 5G expands and there is every expectation that the movie industry will be keeping pace with the medium.    If public money is spent restoring the Roxy to its former glory it is unlikely to fulfill the role of a movie theatre.   It may have a place as a live theatre to expand Parramatta's cultural appeal but otherwise its purpose is doubtful.

Restoration would be an expensive way to preserve an icon of a past that would seem an incongruity in a modern city !