The Art Nouveau Stained Glass Window of the Former Regent Theatre - Murray Street, Colac

            Built originally as the Paramount Theatre, this picture palace at 23 Murray Street in Colac was built in 1925.

Built in Inter-War Free Classical style, the picture theatre has a symmetrical facade with a vestigial pediment with classical elements introduced to an otherwise very simply decorated facade.  These are all attributes of the Inter-War Free Classical style.  

The Regent Theatre Company from Geelong purchased the Paramount Theatre in 1931 and proceeded to refurbish it; redecorating the interior and entrance hall, preparing the theatre for "the talkies", by installing sound equipment, adding an organ for entertainment, and installing a beautiful yet unusually old fashioned Art Nouveau stylised stained glass window with the Regent Theatre Company's letter R logo in the centre on the facade.  The neoclassical proscenium of the original theatre was maintained, but richly decorated "plasteresque" grilles were added when the Regent Theatre Company took over.  These grilles successfully hid the sound equipment on either side of the classical proscenium.  These new additions were created in Spanish Mission style.  The newly installed organ was put to good use and was used for community sing-a-longs during the Depression years to raise money for the poor by way of unemployed relief organised by Colac Traders Association.       

Although the Regent Theatre has since ceased being a picture theatre, and been converted into the Colac branch of the Returned and Services league (RSL), the entrance hall with its terrazzo flooring in brilliant Art Deco lime green, burnt orange, black and pale yellow Jazz Age designs and central ticket kiosk still remain intact. 

Located approximately 150 kilometres to the south-west of Melbourne, past Geelong is the small Western District city of Colac.  The area was originally settled by Europeans in 1837 by pastoralist Hugh Murray.  A small community sprung up on the southern shore of a large lake amid the volcanic plains.  The community was proclaimed a town, Lake Colac, in 1848, named after the lake upon which it perches.  The post office opened in 1848 as Lake Colac and was renamed Colac in 1854 when the city changed its name.  The township grew over the years, its wealth generated by the booming grazing industries of the large estates of the Western District and the dairy industry that accompanied it.  Colac has a long high street shopping precinct, several churches, botanic gardens, a Masonic hall and a smattering of large properties within its boundaries, showing the conspicuous wealth of the city.  Today Colac is still a commercial centre for the agricultural district that surrounds it with a population of around 10,000 people.  Although not strictly a tourist town, Colac has many beautiful surviving historical buildings or interest, tree lined streets.  Colac is known as “the Gateway to the Otways” (a reference to the Otway Ranges and surrounding forest area that is located just to the south of the town).

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Colac (show map)

Taken on: April 22, 2014

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The Regent

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, 14.3mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/4.5
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	14.3mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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