Empire Theatre

Worked for (Colonel) Bob Dodd in 62 and 63, tough , fair person. I was 14, 4s11d a session. Loved it, loved the movies, still do, and so pleased to see the restoration of a grand cinema. Now I need to see a movie there.. if only I still lived locally.

In 1980 I was a drama student at Uni in Toowoomba and saw the inside of this theatre prior to any talk of restoration. I never thought it would ever be resurrected from the outrageous vandalism it had been subjected to during the time it sat silent. Anything within arms reach had been ripped up and smashed, the ceiling had huge gaps and 2 feet of rubble covered all floor space. In what had once been the main foyer, an enormous poster of Gone With the Wind framed in hundreds of gold-leafed cardboard crescents had been reduced to a barely legible image, only 3 or 4 crescents remained. A wall of original Coca-Cola mirrors, that had once decorated the refreshments area, were now only jagged bits of glass. The building looked in the last throws of death. I am yet to see the restoration except in pictures, but it’s a miracle that this art deco wonder rose again

Wow what a large and unique lighted stage!