Monday, 23 January 2017
NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall today announced that the timeframe for public comment about a proposed heritage listing for the iconic Roxy Theatre and cafe building in Bingara has been extended to allow more time for community feedback.
Mr Marshall says the NSW Department of Environment and Heritage has extended the deadline for submissions about a plan to list the main street complex on a heritage register.
Mr Marshall earlier this week asked the department to consider extending the timeframe for public submissions because he thought the original exhibition time for comment was too short, particularly at this time of year when a lot of locals might be still on holidays or miss the advertisements during the holiday period.
“The Roxy Theatre and Peter’s Cafe are well loved in the Bingara area and throughout this region for its historic place in our architectural and cultural life and I think the original closing date was far too short a time to give enough people an opportunity to comment,” Mr Marshall said.
The department has now extended the deadline to February 7 this year.
The NSW Heritage Council gave notice of its intention to consider listing the building complex on the State Heritage Register in December which would preserve it but also importantly give access to maintenance and preservation funding in the future.
“The Roxy Theatre and Peter’s Cafe complex could be of state significance as a rare surviving example of an inter-war art deco cinema and more so because it still operates as a theatre and entertainment venue today,” Mr Marshall said.
“It’s got a distinctive street presence and intact, luxurious, interior detailing and layout, and its construction in the 1930s by Greek migrants was a huge deal for Bingara back then.
“That story of Greek migration and settlement in country NSW is part of the folklore of Bingara and of the Roxy and it played to huge cinema audiences for years before the advent of television so it is also a living reminder for us all of the architectural, technical and social aspects of cinema going.
“It is still being used today for some of those original purposes; it is a cafe, cinema and theatre complex that also is used for conference and function events.
“I am told the complex still contains original fixtures and fittings, including the ornate stucco plaster, paintwork and coloured lights from 1936.
Mr Marshall said written submissions about the listing proposal could be sent to heritage@heritage.nsw.gov.au by close of business on February 7. Details are also available on the NSW Department of Environment and Heritage’s website.