The Entrance Cinema: Plans to turn historic theatre into retail/office shop-top housing

The Entrance Cinema will be redeveloped into shops, offices and a four bedroom rooftop apartment under new plans lodged less than a year after screening its final movie. See the full details here.

The final curtain appears to have fallen for The Entrance Cinema with plans to breathe “new life” into the dilapidated building lodged with Central Coast Council.

The statement of environmental effects for a new development application (DA) lodged for the building at 54 The Entrance Rd, The Entrance, states the historic cinema will be converted into a mixed use development with a retail ground floor, first floor office spaces and a new rooftop apartment.

The DA states the cinema’s internal fixtures and seating has already been removed as part of the redevelopment which includes five ground floor retail shops.

The Entrance Cinema will be converted into retail shops, offices and a rooftop apartment.

One shop will front The Entrance Rd while the other four will open onto Bayview Mall, with the existing two garages and garbage storage area to be retained at the rear of the building which backs onto Theatre Lane.

The retail ground floor will be designed to function as “active shopfronts” while the first floor will be fitted out with seven office suits and accompanying amenities.

“An additional floor is to be created on the building rooftop for use as a residential unit,” the DA states.

“The dwelling unit will comprise four bedrooms and open living/kitchen/dining facilities. The residential dwelling will be accessed internally via a new lift.”

The rooftop apartment will also feature a generous east-facing veranda.

The proposed ground floor will have an area of 408.69sq m, the first floor an area of 458.96sq m and the rooftop apartment an area of 375.42sq m for a total floor area of 1,243.07sq m.

The redeveloped building will have a maximum height of 15.9m, well below the maximum height of 23m permitted under the site’s zoning.

“The design of the rooftop is to provide good internal amenity for the occupants of the dwelling house and responds positively to the orientation of the building,” the DA states.

“The existing cinema building will be substantially upgraded as part of the development proposal. The existing external facades of the building will be dramatically improved and will better integrate with the adjoining public domain. The proposal provides for an effective re-use of the existing cinema. The current dilapidated building will be given a `new life’ as part of the upgrade proposed.”

An artist's impression of the redeveloped cinema at The Entrance into a mixed use, retail, office and shop top housing building. Picture: supplied

The DA states the provision of two carparking spaces for the proposed residential development is considered sufficient to handle the net change in projected parking demand and the additional rooftop apartment will not significantly add to the bulk and scale of the building.

“The proposal involves a re-use of an existing building that is currently in a poor state of repair due to its vacancy and is in desperate need of a monetary injection for redevelopment,” the DA states.

But new plans are a far cry from the building’s artistic origins, which has provided entertainment for generations of moviegoers.

The cinema first opened as the Prince Edward Theatre on April 13, 1934, following a fire at the other cinema in The Entrance, the Wintergarden Theatre, earlier that year.

The Entrance Cinema opened at The Prince Edward Theatre (pictured here in 1947).

The Prince Edward Theatre closed in 1977 but was reopened in 1981 as a smaller theatre and renamed The Entrance Cinema.

A second screen was added in 1988 and the cinema was completely refurbished in 2007, making it the first on the coast to be equipped with digital projection.

It was operated for the past 14 years as part of the Majestic Cinemas group but was closed on April 18, last year following a change in building ownership.