CAARP
Cinema and Audience Research Project

The Wollongong Town Hall was erected in 1887 and was initially comprised of two buildings, an administrative office and a hall. When a new hall was built adjacent to the buildings in 1927 the existing hall became known as the annex (Parkinson 1995, 22).

On 10th February1897, this venue played host to the first exhibition of the moving pictures in Wollongong (Illawarra Mercury 10 February 1897). Travelling picture show companies continued to exhibit in the hall throughout the first decade of the 20th century, however, in 1911, two open-air cinemas opened within weeks of each other and visiting exhibitors transferred their operations one or other of these purpose-built venues (Parkinson 1995, 22).

The last recorded exhibition of film in the Town Hall annex took place in June 1912 (South Coast Times 21 June 1912)

References:

Parkinson, R. J 1995, Gauffered Velour: A history of motion picture exhibition and picture theatres in the Illawarra district of New South Wales 1897-1994, Australian Theatre Historical Society Inc, Campbelltown NSW.

Thorne, R, Tod, L & Cork, K 1996, Movie Theatre Heritage Register for New South Wales 1896 – 1996, Department of Architecture, University of Sydney, Sydney.