Paragon Theatre
A heritage-listed cinema and theatre in Childers, Queensland, built in 1927 and restored as a community entertainment venue.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Paragon Theatre is a historic cinema and theatre at 75 Churchill Street in Childers, in Queensland's Bundaberg Region. Constructed in 1927, it was commissioned by local film exhibitors Gee, Philpott and Gee and designed by Brisbane architect Arthur Robson. The building replaced Gee's Hall, an earlier refreshment, dance and entertainment venue on the same site, and was purpose-built to serve the growing demand for cinema and live entertainment in the prosperous sugar town of Childers. The theatre developed from the entertainment activities of William Gee, a Bundaberg confectioner who moved to Childers around 1906 and established refreshment rooms, a fruit shop, tea rooms and catering business. His premises gained a second-storey ballroom in 1908. In 1912, Gee installed an oil-fuelled lighting plant and began showing silent films, including The Iron Claw, while also operating a travelling picture-show service in nearby Isis district towns. By the 1920s, film exhibition had become sufficiently popular for Gee's successors and business partners to plan a modern cinema. Robson designed Paragon as a tropical theatre suited to Queensland's climate. Its timber-lined auditorium incorporated latticework, fretwork and high-level ventilation openings, while the masonry and stucco facade presented a more formal Mediterranean-influenced street presence. The building included a stage suitable for drama and musical performances, dressing rooms, an orchestra pit, a dress circle, private boxes and stalls seating. Contemporary plans anticipated a capacity of about 1,200, although a later directory recorded approximately 600 seats. The contractor was P Mellefont Junior. The new theatre opened around 1927–1928. Local accounts associate its opening with The Jazz Singer, the influential 1927 Warner Bros. film, although the precise opening programme is not certain. After opening, Harold Philpott sold his share to Dudley and Margery Gee, who operated the venue through the Paragon Pictures Company. For decades it functioned as the principal picture theatre serving Childers and the wider Isis district, regularly screening films and cartoons on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Ownership changed several times. Peter and Mary Sourris acquired the theatre in 1949 and updated its sound system, entrance doors, internal circulation and seating. Granville and Iris Knowles bought it by about 1960, installed a ticket box and fitted a CinemaScope screen, changes that reduced the stage's suitability for concert use. The Ricciardi family acquired the building in 1962. The last film was shown in 1998, after which the historic structure required substantial repair and conservation. Thomas Griffiths and Merissa Ricciardi acquired the theatre in 2007 and began a restoration programme intended to preserve its historic fabric while returning it to public and community use. In 2011, Ricciardi and new co-owner Nigel Craft were continuing the work. The building reopened in July 2014 as an entertainment venue. In 2015, the Crafts received a Queensland Heritage Award from the National Trust for their conservation work. Paragon Theatre's significance rests on both its continuing association with local entertainment and its architectural survival. It is one of the rare surviving 1920s regional Queensland cinemas that retains substantial interior features, including timber lattice and fretwork, historic seating, lighting elements and balcony arrangements. The theatre was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 April 2000. Its heritage status recognises the building's role in the development of interwar popular entertainment, the importance of independent rural film exhibition and the distinctive character of tropical cinema architecture in Queensland.
History
Paragon Theatre emerged from the expansion of commercial entertainment in Childers during the early twentieth century. Childers grew rapidly after the opening of the railway from Isis Junction in 1887, first as a timber centre and later as the hub of a substantial sugar-growing and milling district. Its population and commercial importance created demand for social spaces, dances, public functions and motion pictures. William Gee, a confectioner from Bundaberg, moved to Childers around 1906 and established refreshment rooms on the site now occupied by the theatre. The business combined a fruit shop, tea rooms and catering operation. In 1908, Gee added a ballroom on an upper floor. The room hosted dances and other functions, although roller skating eventually damaged the floor. Gee's installation of an oil-powered lighting plant in 1912 enabled the first silent-film exhibitions in the district. The first reported screening was The Iron Claw, starring Pearl White. Gee also took films to other Isis district communities, creating an early regional exhibition network. By 1923, Childers had a competing venue known as the Palace Theatre, operated by Harold Philpott and A Archer in a hall behind the Palace Hotel. Around the same period, William Gee transferred his interest in Gee's Hall to his son Dudley and Harold Philpott. The popularity of cinema encouraged the partners to develop a purpose-built theatre. A new firm, Gee, Philpott and Gee, was formed with the participation of Gee's daughter Margery, and plans were commissioned from Brisbane architect Arthur Robson. Construction took place in 1927, with P Mellefont Junior as contractor. Some materials from Gee's Hall were reused. Robson designed the building as a climate-responsive tropical theatre, using timber lattice and decorative fretwork to conceal high-level ventilation openings. The auditorium was a large timber structure under a galvanised iron roof, while the front facade used brick pilasters, stucco and a prominent awning. Two small shops were incorporated into the street frontage. The interior included a stage, dressing rooms, orchestra pit, proscenium, balcony, private boxes and separate seating areas. Although an intended capacity of 1,200 was reported, a 1938–1939 directory gave a more conservative capacity of 600. During construction, films continued at the Palace Theatre and Childers Band Hall. The Paragon formally opened around 1928. The Jazz Singer is reputed to have been the opening film, which would have associated the venue's launch with the transition from silent cinema to synchronised sound, but this detail is not fully confirmed. After the opening, Harold Philpott sold his interest to Dudley and Margery Gee. Under the Paragon Pictures Company name, the theatre became the only picture theatre in the Isis district and presented regular film and cartoon programmes, especially on Wednesday and Saturday nights. The theatre changed hands in 1949 when Peter and Mary Sourris of Gayndah acquired it. They modernised the sound equipment, replaced the entrance gates with glass doors, closed one staircase to the dress circle and replaced long forms with canvas seats. By about 1960, Granville and Iris Knowles owned the property. They added a ticket box and a CinemaScope screen, but the screen installation covered or constrained the stage and reduced the venue's capacity for concerts and other stage events. The Ricciardi family purchased the theatre in 1962. Cinema operations continued for decades, with the final film screening taking place in 1998. The building was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 April 2000. The listing identified it as an unusually intact surviving regional cinema from the 1920s and recognised its evidence of interwar entertainment, independent film exhibition and Queensland theatre design. Its prominent Churchill Street facade also contributes to Childers' historic streetscape, while the auditorium preserves elements of the period cinema experience. In 2007, Thomas Griffiths and Merissa Ricciardi purchased the theatre and undertook repairs and conservation. Their objective was not simply to revive regular cinema but to return the building to a broader public role as a venue for community and entertainment activities. In 2011, Ricciardi and Nigel Craft were continuing restoration work. The theatre reopened in July 2014. The conservation project was acknowledged in 2015 when Ricciardi and Craft received a Queensland Heritage Award from the National Trust. The venue's current operating status and programme are not established by the supplied reference material.
- 2015
Conservation work receives heritage award
[1]Merissa Ricciardi and Nigel Craft received a Queensland Heritage Award from the National Trust.
- 2014
Theatre reopens
[1]Following restoration, the building reopened in July as an entertainment and community venue.
- 2007
Restoration ownership begins
[1]Thomas Griffiths and Merissa Ricciardi purchased the theatre and began repairing and restoring the building.
- 2000
Queensland Heritage Register listing
[1]Paragon Theatre was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 April.
- 1998
Final film screening
[1]The last reported film was shown, after which the building entered a period requiring significant repair and conservation.
- 1962
Ricciardi family acquires the theatre
[1]The Ricciardi family became the theatre's owners.
- 1960
CinemaScope screen installed
[1]Under Granville and Iris Knowles, the theatre gained a CinemaScope screen, limiting the stage's suitability for concert use.
- 1949
Sourris ownership begins
[1]Peter and Mary Sourris acquired the theatre and carried out sound, entrance and seating improvements.
- 1928
Theatre opens to the public
[1]The new venue opened around 1928; local tradition associates its opening with The Jazz Singer.
- 1927
Purpose-built Paragon Theatre constructed
[1]Gee, Philpott and Gee commissioned Arthur Robson to design the new tropical-style cinema and engaged P Mellefont Junior as contractor.
Products and positioning
A heritage conservation venue combining historic cinema exhibition, live entertainment and community use in regional Queensland.
Film exhibition · 1928
Cinema screenings
Cinema exhibition was the theatre's primary commercial function from its opening in the late 1920s until the final reported film screening in 1998. The venue presented regular feature films and cartoons, particularly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and historically served the wider Isis district as its principal picture theatre.
Performing arts · 1927
Live theatre and music events
The original building was designed with a substantial stage, dressing rooms and an orchestra pit so it could accommodate drama, musical shows and other live performances alongside film. Later CinemaScope alterations reduced the stage's usefulness, but live and community entertainment remained part of the venue's intended heritage role.
Venue hire · 2014
Community and private events
Following restoration, the theatre was repositioned as a broader entertainment and community venue rather than solely a cinema. Its historic auditorium and stage provide a setting for local functions, cultural activities and private events, although the supplied sources do not specify a current event schedule.
Brand decisions
2014
Reopening as a multipurpose entertainment venueStrategyBackground
The building had ceased regular film exhibition after the 1998 final screening, but its heritage significance and community associations supported a broader reuse model.
Action taken
The restored Paragon Theatre reopened to the public as an entertainment venue with potential for community and cultural activities.
Aftermath
The conservation project later received National Trust recognition through a Queensland Heritage Award in 2015.
2007
Restoration and community-use strategyStrategyBackground
After cinema operations ended, the historic building required repair and conservation while retaining substantial original fabric.
Action taken
Thomas Griffiths and Merissa Ricciardi acquired the theatre and began a restoration programme aimed at returning it to public entertainment and community use.
Aftermath
The restoration continued through the early 2010s and led to the venue's reopening in July 2014.
Recent events
- 2015
Restoration owners receive Queensland Heritage Award[1]
Other
Merissa Ricciardi and Nigel Craft were recognised by the National Trust with a Queensland Heritage Award for conserving the theatre.
- 2000
Paragon Theatre added to the Queensland Heritage Register[1]
Other
The Childers cinema and theatre was formally heritage listed in recognition of its historical, architectural, aesthetic and community significance.
Sources2 sources
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