21 December 2023
By Hannah Wilcox
Military Road’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace is under consideration for a state heritage listing.
Built in 1935, it was initially used as a theatre, ballroom and shops, with the original bold asymmetrical Art Deco stepped facade and interior maintained throughout several renovations into the early 2000s.
It remains as one of the last surviving cinemas entirely designed by leading Sydney architect George Newton Kenworthy.
Today, the Hayden Orpheum operates primarily as a six-screen cinema, often running live shows and special event screenings.
The theatre has been nominated to be formally considered by the Heritage Council of NSW, with the application reading it “may be of State significance as an excellent and rare surviving example of a suburban theatre that played a key role in the heyday of the moviegoing phenomenon.”
It has also been labelled as a local landmark, acting as an identifying feature of the suburb of Cremorne.
Public comments on the nomination are open, requesting feedback on whether the listing of Hayden Orpheum on the State Heritage Register is ‘of State heritage significance and warrants long-term conservation’ and/or whether its listing would render it incapable of reasonable or economic use and/or cause undue financial hardship.
Submissions are able to be made on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website and will close on January 5.