PHOTO: Outback Arts was excited to receive news of the ClubsNSW grant which will help with expensive roof repairs on the Plaza Theatre.
The Plaza Theatre is a step closer to its former glory after the NSW government approved $200,000 towards its restoration in March.
The money will go towards “extensive” roof repair to make it watertight, and basic electrical work, which will allow further works on the nearly 100-year-old venue.
Outback Arts executive director Jamie-Lea Trindall said the grant covers about a third of the funds needed to bring the theatre back up to scratch.
“It’s more about getting the necessary work done before we can move on to the really beautiful things like plastering and painting,” she said.
“There’s some areas of the roof that are leaking and there’s some guttering issues, so hopefully with this grant we can resolve all of that.
“It’s been 16 months since we purchased the Plaza and we’ve submitted several grants in that time, so it was wonderful news last Friday (21 March) to get our letter of offer.”
A start date for the roof work is yet to confirmed but Mrs Trindall anticipates that the majority of the work will be performed by local builders.
Mrs Trindall said the non-profit arts organisation is hopeful of another grant for consultants to design the building’s sound and lighting systems.
The theatre is one of seven community infrastructure grants approved last month under the arts and culture section of the Clubgrants Category 3 Fund.
Local businessman Chris Gray bought the theatre in 2000 and worked to restore it after it had been closed for about 25 years.
Chris suddenly died in 2019 and the theatre had stood largely unused until his brother Phillip (Goose) sold it to Outback Arts.
The building has since seen a surge in activity including weekly music lessons and line dancing, touring comedy and music performances, and last year’s Coonamble Amateur Theatrical Society production ‘Jest at the West’.
“We are looking to fundraise through a variety of ways both through community and philanthropists, approaching interested parties who’d like to patron the building,” Mrs Trindall said.
“We look forward to being able to launch more of that process and information in the months to come.”
The Plaza was built in 1930 to replace the Monarch Picture Theatre destroyed by fire the year before.
It was originally designed with a seating capacity for 900 people- 400 upstairs and 500 downstairs.