Final Curtain for the Star Lyric Theatre

The 3068 Group laments the demolition of the 1911 Star Lyric Theatre. We made submissions to Yarra City Council, objecting to the demolition of the theatre at 239-247 Johnston St, Fitzroy. While other cities protect their heritage and adapt it for new uses, Yarra council in this as in so many cases, was not prepared to fight the developers with their consultants, the State government and VCAT, and its own planning department. No one would stand up for the theatre, so down it comes.

It was one of the most up-to-date theatres for picture shows in the State when opened in 1911. [The Argus, November 6, 1911, p.15]

It was the last of four theatres registered in Fitzroy in 1920:

Lyric Theatre, Johnston Street
Solway Theatre, Johnston Street
Liberty Theatre, 234 Brunswick Street
Palace Theatre, Nicholson Street,

Although 13 cinemas may have operated in Fitzroy and North Fitzroy over the years, it was also the last of the “Lyric Group”. In 1921, other “Lyric Theatres” were at:

High Street, Northcote
162 Chapel Street, Prahran
207 Sydney Road Brunswick
114 Stephen Street, Yarraville
Victoria Street, Prahran
Esplanade St. Kilda.

Seating capacity was reported to have been 2,300. The theatre was of historic importance for its intact pressed metal ceiling and Warren trusses, with a span of 14.6m, and a height of nearly 14m.

“The arched trusses are innovative in Australian terms, though the use of bolted rather than riveted joints is if anything old-fashioned. They are essentially Pratt trusses in shape intermediate between parallel chorded (or concentric) and crescent shaped. The concentric form was well known in the second half of the nineteenth century, at New York Central Station and elsewhere, and the crescent shape was used by Eiffel for two-hinged arches at Oporto and Garabit, but neither type has been reported in Australia, much less the somewhat ungainly compromise of the Lyric Theatre. In Australia this example is followed by the true crescent shaped Warren truss arches, in timber, of the Manufacturers’ Pavilion, Sydney Showgrounds, c 1937, by Trenchard Smith & Maisy [demolished], then by the steel Warren truss arches of the ‘Igloo’ aircraft hangars of the 1940s”.

– Professor Miles Lewis AM, Faculty of Architecture, University of Melbourne. Correspondence with The 3068 Group, Nov 2013.

“The new Lyric Theatre in Johnston street Fitzroy, was opened in the presence of a crowded house on Saturday night. The building, which has been erected at a cost of £10.000, has a seating capacity of 2.300. The mayor of Fitzroy (Councillor T. M’Mahen), in declaring the the theatre open, said that it was one of the most up-to-date theatres for picture shows in the State. The proprietary were to be congratulated on their enterprise. He congratulated the architects (Messrs. H. B. Gibb and Finlay) and the builders (Messrs. Lockington and Sinclair) on the fine result they had achieved. The pictures shown on Saturday night de-lighted the large house. A particularly good film was a representation of “Faust.”

– The Argus November 6, 1911, p15 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11629737

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There is a website by Janine Evans, devoted to the former theatre.