The damage and recovery of Darwin’s iconic outdoor cinema

IT TOOK a month of blood, sweat and tears to reopen the Deckchair Cinema on time after the destruction of Cyclone Marcus. Despite two major trees falling, the staff at the Deckchair consider the Darwin staple lucky.

Deckchair Cinema general manager James Parker recalls the damage and recovery of the cinema after Cyclone Marcus. Picture: Keri Megelus

IT TOOK a month of blood, sweat and tears to reopen the Deckchair Cinema on time after Cyclone Marcus.

At each working bee masses of volunteers swarmed the area to offer their time and equipment for the clean-up.

Now a year later Deckchair Cinema general manager James Parker recalls the destruction and how the Darwin institution bounced back.

“The main damage was two major trees fell down,” he said.

“The iconic fig tree fell in the middle of the cinema and a second huge one came down behind the screen.

“Other than a couple of speakers, the sheer amount of work and some electrics being ripped out, we were incredibly lucky.”

When the cinema asked for community assistance, Territorians rushed to the scene.

“There was an amazing response to the destruction,” he said.

“We had about four or five vans down with tradesman and one company, Wilton Homes and Construction did an incredible amount of work.”

Mr Parker said upon first inspection, the community were saddened by the damage.

He himself was shaken but reeled his emotions in.

“I was really shocked but I had to take a more pragmatic approach,” he said.

“Everyone was sad, especially about the fig tree but also the gardens.

“It was pretty devastating for volunteers who’ve been there since Deckchair was built to see the destruction.”

“There was concern it wasn’t going to be the same after the cyclone,” he said.

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“The character of the cinema has changed. Now we’ve got sunsets we never saw before, it’s a bit more open and there’s less sandflies with more air movement.”

The fallen trees were repurposed and replaced.

“The fig tree became woodchips and we purchased some mahogany that came down elsewhere to build a large bench,” Mr Parker said.

“We’re very lucky in Darwin everything grows so quickly. In another climate it’d take many years. Even the stump from the fig tree is sprouting.”

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Despite the carnage the Deckchair had one of its best seasons yet in 2018.

Mr Parker says in response to Marcus the team are preparing for future cyclones.

“We’re changing some policies about how we react when there is a threat of a cyclone,” he said.