The campaign to reopen a derelict theatre for the community will have its plea heard in parliament after campaigners gained more than 5,000 signatures on a petition.
The petition to rebuild Ku-ring-gai’s Marian Street Theatre has reached 5,827 supporters, and will be presented in NSW’s Legislative Assembly by MP and Member for Davidson, Matt Cross.
Grassroots action to save the historic theatre has gained significant support from the local community since Ku-ring-gai councillors voted in June to abandon a $1.7 million development application to reopen the site, and has been backed by some high profile actors, including Miriam Margolyes and Hugh Jackman.
Hundreds also attended a recent rally to save the theatre and more than $100,000 was raised in one week for a fighting fund.
The Marian St Theatre Action Group chair, Jessica Blaxland Ashby, told Central News: “An extraordinary thing happened that morning when I told our very first volunteer that that’s what we would be doing during the event (raising donations). He just looked at me and went, well, I’m going to give $10,000. I just burst into tears.
“Then we had some other early donations as well, which really got the ball rolling. Some of them donated as little as $6, but it didn’t matter. It was the fact that everyone was banding together and was making the whole thing move.”
The recent petition, which closed on September 8, showed a notable increase in public support since the group’s last petition to council in 2018, which attracted only 3,919 signatures.
Built in 1906 as a community hall in Killara, Sydney, the Marian Street Theatre became a professional arts venue in 1966, staging plays with a host of leading performers, including Hugo Weaving, Jacki Weaver, Tony Sheldon, John Bell and playwright David Williamson.
However, the theatre closed due to public safety concerns in 2013, and has sat empty ever since, boarded up and the subject of vandalism.
The abandoned interior of the theatre. Photo: Vlasta Igudina.
Ku-ring-gai Council shelved the redevelopment as a low priority after an application that included detailed artist’s concepts of the renovated theatre.
“My grandmother, Audrey, founded the Children’s Theatre back in 1969,” said Blaxland Ashby. “So there’s a very strong family connection there… but there are so many other families who will say ‘my grandmother used to take me there’ or ‘my parents met there and then they got married there’.
“These extraordinary stories from the community just show how deep those roots go in that venue and how absolutely vital it is that it’s protected and revitalised for the future to make sure it’s there for the needs of the community.”
Four generations of the Blaxland family outside of the theatre. Jessica Blaxland Ashby, right. Photo supplied.
Blaxland Ashby said she hopes to see the theatre reopen in the next three years as a vibrant third space for the community.
The approved redevelopment, designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, seeks to transform the historic theatre into a contemporary arts centre for local community events.
“Saving the approved plans is the first step,” said Blaxland Ashby. “Now we need to secure the funding to build the theatre.
“We have been without Marian St Theatre for 13 years. It is time to finish the job.”
Main picture of theatre by Vlasta Igudina, with artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment.
