Forest Hill Cinema

The Forest Hill Cinema is a former single-screen picture theatre located at 67 Mahoneys Road in the Melbourne suburb of Forest Hill, Australia. Since its closure as a cinema in 1988, the building has been repurposed as a night club venue, community theatre and dance studio.

In 1967, managers of the Forest Hills Shopping Centre announced that an auditorium, designed to TV studio specifications, would be constructed on Mahoneys Road, and would run daily matinees for shoppers, special audiences and schools. It was the first purpose-built picture theatre in the Nunawading area, boasting 362 seats, a restaurant, a snack bar, a coffee lounge and three adjoining shops.^[1]

It was designed by local architect Thord Lorich with assistance from ATV-0 engineers. Its construction utilises a metal deck roof held up by timber-framed light tan brick veneer with terrazzo, ceramic and granolithic finishes. Custom roller doors were incorporated into the second storey facade to allow for camera/equipment installation directly into the L-shaped mezzanine – which contained the projection cabin, a plant room, an ovoid-shaped orchestra balcony and dressing rooms. The projection cabin, which housed twin colour 35mm film projectors and a slide projector, was situated behind a gallery overlooking the auditorium. The stage was furnished by A. J. Tully & Co, and Kingsley Industries were the structural, HVAC and electrical engineers for the project.^[2]

The opening night took place on Friday the 31st of May, 1968, with an entertainment programme including a screening of Otto Preminger's Hurry Sundown with music by local musician Victor Conner at the organ.^[3] Another notable screening was of the post-apocalyptic drama film Beyond Reason, which was filmed locally and premiered at Forest Hill in May 1970.^[4] ATV-0 beamed a test colour television transmission from their nearby studios at Hawthorn Road to the cinema in March 1970, five years before colour broadcasts were formally introduced to Australia.^[5]

The original operators, Sherwood Productions, went through legal troubles and subsequently terminated their lease early. The cinema re-opened in January 1970 with Dendy as the operator, who made minor alterations including a reduction of seating from 362 to 337 and minor equipment upgrades. Village began operating it from 1978 until Palace took over in 1980.^[6][7] The cinema closed in September 1989, shortly before Hoyts opened across the road in the new Forest Hill Chase redevelopment. It had its last full house as a cinema on the 20th May 1988 when it screened Crocodile Dundee II – which sold so many tickets that people were overflowing into the projection booth.^[8]

The Canadian steak and seafood chain The Keg were going to open a branch in the former cinema building in 1990, but this never eventuated.^[9] The building instead converted into a night club venue called "The Bunker" which shut down in 1993 due to an uprise in antisocial behaviour.^[10][11] Centre management worked with council officers and local police to re-open it as "Club 3131", a community-based blue light disco. This later shut down, and the building sat vacant for a number of years before it was eventually converted into a ballet studio and later a community theatre. These have since closed, and refurbishment works are underway as of March 2025.^[12]

37°50′10″S 145°09′59″E / 37.83602°S 145.16646°E / -37.83602; 145.16646