Progress on the Liberty Theatre Restoration Project

Having been successful in the first Expression of Interest round to obtain $2 million plus GST as a grant from Create NSW, the Friends of the Liberty Theatre and Cultural Centre, as an incorporated association, has been invited to submit an application to secure the funds needed to restore the Art Deco building as a theatre, performance space and multi-purpose cultural centre.

Group hoping to rewind Yass Liberty Theatre to its glory days - About Regional

Despite the dimness, dust and modifications, with just a sprinkle of fairy dust the imagination sees how the Yass Liberty Theatre once was and what it could be.

About Regional

World class Wurlitzer organ finds new home

A group of passionate music lovers spent many days, many hours and many trips between Yass and Sydney to dismantle, pack and move this famous operating 1927 Wurlitzer Theatre Organ.

Originally from the now demolished Regent Theatre in George St, Sydney, the organ will return to life come back to life in the restored Liberty Theatre in Yass. Generously gifted to the “Friends Of Liberty”from the Estate of the late John Atkinson.

The organ will be recommissioned into the Liberty Theatre on Comur St Yass once funding of $3.5million is secured to restore the 1939 art deco building. Thank you to everyone involved.

Iconic sign to return

The Friends of the Liberty Theatre Liberty has received a heritage grant of $3,350 from the Yass Valley Council to restore the iconic sign to its former glory.

The Friends’ received the grant as one of seven local heritage projects under the Yass Valley Council’s 2022/23 Local Heritage Grants Program. Council, with the assistance of Heritage NSW, facilitates the Local Heritage Grants Program each year.

The grants aim to contribute to the preservation of structures of historical value and to foster positive attitudes towards heritage and conservation.

Friends of the Liberty Theatre member, Bimbi Turner, said the group is working hard to restore the building, and bring it into the 21st century. She was thrilled to receive the grant to return the original sign to it’s former glory.

“We will use the grant to re-do the sign writing and hope to eventually reinstall the lights inside the sign. The reason we chose the sign is because we thought it’s very prominent on the approach to Yass,“ said Mrs. Turner.

“We have until April next year to complete the work and will time it with when the scaffolding goes up for the other restorations we have planned.”

Yass Valley Mayor, Allan McGrath, said he was pleased to see the 2022/23 Local Heritage Grants Program benefitting the main street of Yass.

“We have already begun work on a vision for the main street with the creation of the Yass Main Street Masterplan. This will guide how we improved important infrastructure including lighting, seating, parking, and signage on the main street,” said Mayor McGrath.

“What the masterplan is unable to influence, however, is the facades of privately-owned businesses on the main street. Therefore, it is great to see local business operators taking the initiative to apply for funding for restoration projects, which will not only go to great lengths towards preserving the main street’s heritage, but also improving the look of our main street, ultimately making it more attractive for residents and tourists alike to visit.”

Giant organ in need of a good home after decades of private concerts

A giant and unique organ is looking for a new home after the man who saved it died. In its hay day, the National Trust-listed wurlitzer accompanied silent films in a Sydney theatre. Now, after decades of private concerts, it's looking for a new keeper who will love it as much as its last owner.

ABC News, 19 May 2021.

'Liberty' could lead a regional infrastructure revival in Yass

Yass Liberty Theatre's Stage is set for a Regional Infrastructure Revival

An interview with Kristy McBain MP in the Liberty Theatre, Yass.

• Transcript

  Kristy McBain MP: I’m in Yass today talking to a range of different people. We’ve been to the Liberty Theatre this morning, the Chamber of Commerce later today, the Yass Valley Council and I’m meeting with a whole range of people down by the local cafe. Paul’s given us a fantastic tour of the building, what it used to be and what it could be into the future.

  Paul Brennan: And you couldn’t wish to be in a more fascinating and termed piece of art deco in regional Australia. This is one of only two ocean liner art deco theatres that have survived. There used to be nearly 40.

  Kristy McBain MP: Imagination is limitless and, for me, regional towns are really where our recovery from bushfires and coronavirus are going to take place. We know that people can work from anywhere these days and centrepieces like this place will really draw more and more people into Yass. So, [I’m] really excited for what the future holds for Yass with the redevelopment of this building, the redevelopment of other buildings in town and, also, a range of people who are now calling Yass home. It is one of the fastest growing places across Eden-Monaro, so [I’m] really excited about the future.

  Paul Brennan: The whole theatre is now ready for a renovation rescue to reopen and re-employ. This building would employ quite a number of local people, especially tradespeople, to put it back together. Being so close to Canberra, it also means that performing artists, musicians especially, would be able to play [in] Canberra and, just up the road, have a fantastic art deco showplace to also add to their schedule.

Published by the Yass Valley Times.

Liberty Theatre Back to the Future

By the Yass Valley Times

After two attempts to sell the Liberty Theatre in Yass, owners of 16 years, Touie and Denise Smith are returning the historic building to the market.

The local couple has hired heritage cinema consultant of 30 years, Paul Brennan, until August to capture the imaginations of potential buyers by showcasing the old theatre’s future if restored to its former glory as a popular community theatre.

“Yass is ready for a series of renovation rescues to boost tourism dollars in town. I think there are several major opportunities in Yass and the Liberty Theatre is the easiest and quickest to renovate, and the one that would stand out and put a spotlight on the others,” Mr Brennan told Yass Valley Times.

“There has been interest from Melbourne, Brisbane and a cinema owner from Nowra, so far,” Mr Brennan said. 

Mr Brennan said he also approached the Friends of the Liberty Theatre (FOLT) group about the sale. FOLT member Ian McClung said the group couldn’t afford to buy the theatre but wanted to work with the new owner to apply for restoration grants to ensure the building was maintained as a community space.

“We’re about engaging with the owner to make sure it stays the Art Deco theatre it needs to be and the cultural hub it should be,” Mr McClung said.

Bimbi Turner is another FOLT member who hopes to see the theatre used by the community for the arts, education and music.

“It’s got so much potential to be a pop-up food and beverage space; to be used for the release of new songs, poetry recitals, conferences, repertory performances and fashion parades. I think it has a very broad scope of what it could be used for because it can be a small or big space and the acoustics are great,” Mrs Turner said. 

The Smiths said “The consultant’s role is to sell the concept of a working Art-Deco theatre and what it can bring to Yass. Should offers come from this, we will look at them, otherwise, it will go to auction.”

Mrs Turner said once the Liberty Theatre was restored, it could be handed to Yass Valley Council and rented to community groups for a peppercorn rent.

Mr Brennan, who is authorised to speak on behalf of the Smiths about the Liberty Theatre, said he supported FOLT’s ideas and that the sale was subject to a covenant to keep the theatre as a heritage building. He has even facilitated a complete historical archive that would assist a buyer to apply for a heritage listing and grants.

“It’s an entertainment venue for half the price of an apartment in Sydney,” he said. “It’s already had $150,000 invested in it, which is archived. About $50,000 has been spent on the mezzanine foyer, paint, new light fittings and other renovations.”

The theatre may need a new roof in five years while fire and disability access could easily be upgraded to meet current regulations sooner, Mr Brennan said. He estimated the theatre would need a $600,000 grant for the necessary restoration works.

“The Roxy Community Theatre at Leeton got a $2.1 million grant and is open; the Malachi Gilmore Hall in Oberon got a $600,000 grant and is half the building this is, and Brunswick Picture House is a shed with a patio and got $290,000,” Mr Brennan said.

 “In doing it up, we’d be employing tradespeople from the town, management skills to get it up to speed and then there would be furnishings, floors and air conditioning units that could all come from Yass. This could be a major tourist destination; Canberra does not have an Art Deco theatre.”

The Liberty Theatre isn’t Mr Brennan’s first rodeo. He has revamped, renovated and restored several cinemas in regional and metro NSW in his 30 years as a consultant.

“Since 2000, Heritage NSW and the ACT Government have been actively searching for buildings from the 20th century that are still valid in the 21st century for heritage, tourism and function purposes,” Mr Brennan said.

“Around 2004, the government put a call out for buildings operating as their original intent and several cinemas stepped forward.”

Mr Brennan owned the theatres at Avoca Beach and Scone, which is similar to the theatre in Yass.

He and others applied for grants for renovations to bring those theatres into the 21st century and were successful under the agreement they remained as theatres and provided employment.

The biggest winner was the Roxy Theatre at Leeton, according to Mr Brennan.

 “The council there was very much behind any progress to keep the theatre going. Now it’s a community theatre that offers employment and a performing arts space,” he said.

“A lot of these theatres are seen as heritage streetscapes. Many are what they call inter-war architecture, built post-1920 but pre-1940. The government and Heritage NSW are interested in this theme because it was the first decade of mass marking, radio, talking films and colour films, so it’s seen as the first decade of the modern era. Therefore, these buildings can be an intergenerational inheritance for a community and town and a tourist destination.”

Program for the opening night of the Liberty Theatre in 1939.

The Liberty Theatre reveals a 1939 Art Deco, ocean liner design by Australian cinema designers Guy Crick and Bruce Furse.

“In regional towns, they deliberately made them more ocean liner with portholes, chimneys and handrails; it made it look like you were going to board the Queen Mary. The idea for rural people was that it was unlike any other building in town and it was a modern building because colour films were out. Regional people wanted to be modern like their city cousins and people went to the theatre from a rural lifestyle, but when they got on board the ship they went on a journey, to a destination that was wherever the film was going. They had a holiday,” Mr Brennan said.

Most of those theatres were lost in the 60s and 70s when televisions were introduced to homes in Australia. However, the Liberty Theatre was closed by a couple who didn’t want to run R rated films. 

“This theatre should never have closed. It closed at a time when there were huge colour films such as Jaws and Star Wars. There were other films they could have run if they were upset by R rated films,” Mr Brennan said.

He said it was important Yass had a theatre again, for people to have somewhere to go or to take the family to and for performing artists to visit.

 “The people of Yass deserve a theatre,” Mr Brennan said.