The Regent Theatre is the best-known theatre to have existed in Deniliquin but for a couple of decades Deniliquin had two locations to watch movies at and that second place was the Lyceum Theatre.
But it wasn’t always a theatre, you could skate there, box there, fight there, hold meetings there and more.
Before 1910, its name was Temperance Hall and was heavily used by Deniliquin’s residents.
The Lyceum Theatre name was established in 1910, Mr Samuel MacGavin ran Lyceum Pictures from 1910 until ill health caused him to put his family in charge before dying in March 1918.
It was not uncommon to read names like Lyceum Pictureland, Lyceum Pictures, Lyceum Theatre and Lyceum Hall in newspapers between 1910 and 1937.
H. C. Mark was injured in October 1920 when a film caught fire in the projector, Mr. Mark removed the burning film, but a piece of the burning film fell on other films and caused them to catch fire, the fire ended up reaching the roof of the theatre but was extinguished.
It was announced in July 1925 that the Mr. Allison and Mr. Kennedy partnership was dissolved, and W. Probert was Mr. Kennedy’s new business partner.
The Theatre was improved on and altered in 1926 with the floor space measured to be 100ft x 40ft, the walls were 19ft high and the vestibule (lobby) was 14ft x 10ft.
The Lyceum Theatre had a Grand Opening Ball on June 8, 1926, with the Jones’ Orchestra providing the music along with three instrumentalists.
The theatre received an update in 1927 with new chairs and interior installed in a bid to become the picture palace of town.
One such story of the Lyceum’s many uses was a story about a dance that was held by the Basketball Association in 1928 with the Allison Shield being presented to the winning Roman Catholic team.
The theatre was a place with the lot as locals and visitors could partake in Dances, watch movies and doing some skating on a weekly basis there was even at least one instance of Boxing and Wrestling.
In the picture above, the Lyceum is behind the big tree near the centre of the image.
A past owner of the Theatre was the Probert family, the family was well known for owning the Globe Hotel for many years, the Probert’s sold their business to Riverina Amusements Ltd on June 19, 1931, with handover occurring on July 1, 1931.
The latest in Sound Reproducing Equipment was installed at the Lyceum early 1937.
In December 1937, Riverina Amusements Ltd went into liquidation ending the screening of movies at Lyceum Theatre.
A New Years Eve dance was held at the hall by the CWA and the Swimming Club on December 31, 1937.
In 1941, 2QN was brought by the Regent Broadcasting Company and the 2QN studio was moved from the School of Arts to what was now known as Lyceum Hall.
An application for alterations designed to provide additional seating accommodation for the theatre was refused in August 1941, at the time the theatre seated 650 people and additions would have seated an additional 358.
The furnishings of the “Carrara” Hospital was sold off at Lyceum Hall on August 26, 1942.
Deniliquin Football Club held its annual meeting at the hall in February 1946.
Ennor Engineering’s history report detailed what exactly happened to the building, it was auctioned off on October 3, 1953, it was passed in for 750 pounds with Ennor Bros. the bidder, negotiations had then taken place and by October 6, it was owned by Ennor Bros.
The building was dismantled and taken to Davidson Street where it was rebuilt by Hardman Bros. in December that year, the report also has the dimensions of the Lyceum (’40 x ‘110) and reported that the frame was made of Oregon.
The report goes on to discuss the changes to the building from the shortening of the columns (building height) to having a new brick frontage and changing windows plus more, it is the best report on the Lyceum.
Bits of the floor were sent to another location; it ended up on the corner of Cressy and Edwardes Street where Mr. Gillespie had his business that later morphed into a Mitre 10 and is now home to the Pastoral Times and other businesses.
Plans for the construction of the Regent Theatre on the site were approved in June 1954, and the Regent Theatre was opened in December 1956.
Dot Murphy uploaded a picture in 2012 to Deniliquin History in Photos of the Theatre and below it we have a picture of the Ennor Engineering building, so you get an idea of the past and present.
The late Damien Rhook who founded Deniliquin History in Photos inspired us to find out more about Lyceum Theatre when we first heard that it existed.
The Deniliquin & District Historical Society wrote about the Theatre on December 23, 2023.
Deni History 