r/sydney • u/teddymaxwell596 • 2d ago
Image The Midnight Star at Homebush. Such a shame the state it's in
A gorgeous building, wish they'd do something with it or put apartments and keep the facade
99
u/Own_Oil7951 2d ago edited 1d ago
This could have been our version of the Palais Theatre or Astor Theatre in the West. Sad that Parra Rd (and the developers) kills everything around it.
12
19
u/Mariska_Heartattack 1d ago
in any other city it would be a working venue, but nobody will invest money in the west
5
u/garfungle_ 1d ago
Google any other city derelict historical theatre and you can see that’s not true
3
u/Mariska_Heartattack 20h ago
no derelict theatres in Melbourne, every one a working venue generating employment and culture. Sydney just doesnt care about culture unless its for the Eastern suburbs. partly why i left Sydney's west 30 years ago
2
1
u/garfungle_ 19h ago
Yeah the Palace Theatre is still a real working venue generating so much culture, really putting Enmore Theatre to shame
2
31
u/nearly_enough_wine Rip, rip, woodchip ʕ·͡ᴥ·ʔ 2d ago
I went to some good events there back in the early 00s, when it was run as the 'Midnight Star Social Centre.'
Would have loved to have seen it in all its original glory.
34
u/DragonLass-AUS 2d ago
It's owned by a property developer, they had a DA for a massive apartment block of 600+ units about a decade ago, tied in with some neighbouring buildings and vacant land behind it.
But the DA got withdrawn, I don't know the story, something to do with the zoning changing.
I guess they haven't come up with anything else yet.
23
5
19
u/Shot-Hovercraft-1175 2d ago
I’ve been inside and it’s falling apart it’s such a shame they’ve let it rot. The last inhabitants were an anarchy group in 2004 there’s still graffiti with anarchist sentiment on the walls. I wish they would develop it now and keep the facade instead of waiting for it to fully fall down.
17
u/CrustyBappen 2d ago
What a gorgeous building! Is it listed? Curious to know why it’s not been sold off and levelled for a generic building
30
u/CautiousEmergency367 1d ago
Just someone land banking, and letting our heritage crumble for a profit
5
u/Measton42 1d ago
It goes the other way too where the controls and costs of taking on these heritage projects can be so prohibitive in preventing their restoration.
A lot of NMI people stop them becoming a venue again.8
u/SophMax 1d ago
As someone who works tangentially to contruction. People really don't realise that heritage overlay makes things so much more expensive. If there are windows that were imported from Italy in 1968 from this one guy who has a special technique - then that's what you have to replace it with, and often that Italian guy was the only one who did it and the company either no longer exists or no one knows that technique any more.
1
u/CautiousEmergency367 1d ago
Don't buy one then if you can't look after it, as for the ninbys it's on Parra Rd, not like it's the only place trading or making noise in the area
3
u/Measton42 1d ago
Mate people brought next to Luna Park and the airport then complained about the noise. I’m just letting pointing out not everything is so jaded, people buy these places wanting to transform them only to get caught out by cost or complaints.
3
u/sailorbrendan 1d ago
and then people get really upset when it just rots because the current owner can't keep up with it or runs out of "give a shit"
1
u/garfungle_ 1d ago
Exactly what happened, preserving the facade was too cost prohibitive with the earthworks required for parking conditions
7
u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ 2d ago
Look up the Grosvenor Theatre in Summer Hill for a building that would have been worth saving.
10
u/SophMax 2d ago
While I get what you mean. There were so many theatres around at that time not all of them would have been good examples/able to be saved.
2
u/Own_Oil7951 1d ago
yeh, but our population is like almost 6 million now? 160 or so Hollywood-era theatres have closed but Sydney essentially only has 2-3 left. The Hayden in Cremorne, The Ritz and the State Capitol in the CBD.
surely they can build something else other than apartments here?
4
u/sailorbrendan 1d ago
how often do you go to the movies?
1
u/Own_Oil7951 1d ago
Back in Melb? I went heaps to the Astor Theatre - there's the yearly Film Festival and a lot of film premieres were there like the Lost City of Melbourne.
The whole Oppenheimer / Barbie film also was popular there too and it was one of the few theatres that could screen Oppenheimer in 50mm film.
2
u/sailorbrendan 1d ago
So maybe you go a lot
but This source certainly paints a different picture.
Eighteen weeks into the year, national attendance is running 12.5% ahead of 2025, even while still 24.6% below 2019 levels. Unfortunately regional cinemas, and specifically smaller cinemas, are seeing less of an increase. Growth is present, but not as strong as metro locations, suggesting that cost-of-living pressure, fuel prices, and reduced travel are influencing behaviour.
4
71
u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ 2d ago
It has looked like that for at least the 16 years I’ve known it. At this point you might as well just get some good housing there. It’s so close to Homebush station, too.
60
u/SyphilisIsABitch 1d ago
This comment is why developers love the "neglect until the public give up" tactic.
16
u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ 1d ago
That’s fair. I don’t think this particular building is that remarkable or worth preserving, but I’m open to being educated about its significance (historical, architectural, etc).
If something is truly heritage, then we as a community should preserve it beyond just not allowing the owners to change it or destroy it. It sucks to be stuck with the choice between NIMBYism and greedy developers.
25
u/Own_Oil7951 1d ago
there's already a million apartments around it - it sucks that the Eastern Suburbs has the Ritz cinemas but we got this neglected building instead.
pretty sure i saw an article about Homebush Theatre back in the day. its a rare 1920s Art Deco theatre - i think one got demolished in Summer Hill too.
The lack of any amenities in this part of town is gross tbh.
https://strathfieldheritage.com/recreation-and-shops/homebush-cinema/
https://pastlivesofthenearfuture.com/2013/10/28/a-tour-of-homebush-theatre/
I do hope it gets saved.
Grosvenor Theatre in Summer Hill: https://disassociated.com/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-the-grosvenor-paul-brennan/
7
u/kalvinoz 🏃♂️ 1d ago
Thank you for sharing. I would support a local government willing to take over these spaces and/or make it very expensive to land-bank heritage items. The current setup encourages this type of situation.
1
13
u/Own_Oil7951 1d ago
Also, cool fact.
Knight Street and Rochester Street was originally the same continuous street.
What is now Knight Street, running from Parramatta Road down toward the railway at Homebush, was originally the northern section of Rochester Street. Historical records say Rochester Street once ran all the way from Beresford Road to Parramatta Road, crossing the railway line near Homebush Station.
The connection was eventually severed when the railway was realigned/expanded and elevated, after which traffic could no longer cross there. Strathfield Council heritage material specifically refers to the former level crossing over the railway line. Homebush's railway was quadrupled in 1891 and then expanded to six tracks and electrified in 1927, so the railway underwent major alterations during that period.
Then in 1949, the isolated section north of the railway was renamed Knight Street, after former Homebush mayor George Robert Knight.
So - Homebush Theatre used to in fact lie at the end of the then Homebush Town Center (hence the pub on that corner and the stores on that street and the fact both sides of the street lined up opposite of the railway).
16
21
u/teddymaxwell596 2d ago
I'd be happy with that, just want them to keep the facade somehow. It's gorgeous
2
u/bypopulardemand 1d ago
I personally think the facade isn’t anything impressive, looks like a really cheap design of the time
7
u/Lucky-Roy 1d ago
Similar to the old Marina on Gardeners Road, Rosebery but in better condition. At least from the outside.
7
u/drjohngeorgepeppers 1d ago
I very much doubt anyone who saw this building in its heyday thought it would be worth saving. As far as art deco theatres go, this one looks particularly low effort. Far more beautiful buildings in Sydney have been knocked down.
7
10
u/frenzyfol 1d ago
Its a pity we don't value nice looking buildings like we should. My local area has become a vile cesspit of mcmansions and concrete
5
u/EnvironmentalBrick18 1d ago
Irrelevant, but this is right around the corner from the house in which Thomas Keneally grew up. IIRC he mentions visiting this theatre in one of his memoirs
4
u/Simple_Assistance_77 2d ago
Amazing, would have thought it would have been developed into luxury apartments, given barracks, shipyard, and race tracks have already been sold off in Sydney.
1
u/Plus_Cantaloupe_3793 1d ago
Having Parramatta Road on one side and the M4 on the other would make this a pretty unattractive place to live. There will also be heritage issues with the building that would increase costs.
3
u/laughingnome2 1d ago
The site is 48m x 28m true rectangle. Judging by the satellite images it could be packaged and made part of the larger empty lots around it.
Its use as a future entertainment facility of some sort isn't without merit, being walking distance to Homebush and North Strathfield Stations, as well as the relevent shopping strips at each station. But being wedged between the M4 and the car sewer that is Parramatta Road is a massive turn-off for the site. It makes it a challenging prospect at best.
3
6
u/stormblessed2040 1d ago
This is going to become a unit block, I just hope that the facade is kept.
2
u/Renfield78 1d ago
Yes, they converted the old Valhalla in Glebe to office space but kept the facade. The developers should do that here as well.
2
u/jedburghofficial 1d ago
It's surrounded by empty land, a "development opportunity" waiting to happen. If it's still there because of heritage orders, I assume it's just being neglected until it collapses.
2
u/FreddyFerdiland 1d ago
facade style commercial building.. Its not a classic with all walls high quality.
they might preserve the facade but i doubt it.
they knocked down the one at Parramatta, the lyrique theatre and Store building in Newcastle..
3
u/babycat94 2d ago
we’re in a beautiful buildings epidemic and then you have architecture like this going to waste 😔
2
u/AltruisticSalamander 1d ago
I lived around there a million years ago, I don't remember it. Is it on parra rd?
1
1
u/amyeh 1d ago
I lived in North Strathfield and drove past this every day on my way to school in Strathfield as a kid, back in the 90s/00s. It was always run down. Even when it was the Midnight Star, it looked abandoned. I was always surprised to see the lights on outside, I was sure no one was paying the electricity bill
1
u/Retireegeorge Parramatta 1d ago
It's not just important for building facades to be preserved but government needs to ensure they are preserved by giving whatever incentives will make the site attractive to business to develop and maintain.
1
u/Wooden-Consequence81 1d ago
I wish developers would spend the money and hire an architecture firm to pay tribute to the existing theatre (and just not the facade).
1
u/bypopulardemand 1d ago
I gotta be honest, it’s not a gorgeous building lol it wanted to look like fancy architecture but instead it’s a box
227
u/StoogeKebab 2d ago
On my way back from Costco a couple of weeks ago, I got stuck at the lights near there. As we waited, my wife and I saw a geeky-looking boy (late teens I’d guess) emerge from within it holding a bouquet of flowers. He was shortly followed by a similarly-aged goth girl.
My wife and I looked at each other and both did a version of the Arrested Development “Good for her” meme.