The Regal Theatre, Kensington Park 3.8

The Regal Theatre, formerly known as the Chelsea is a single screen cinema in Kensington Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The front entrance faces the Marryatville suburb and is seen as being part of the Marryatville business community. It was built in the Art Deco style, completed in 1925.HistoryThe theatre's location is part of a ribbon development of shops in the Marryatville centre. This arterial road location was an extension of the Kensington suburb and was built in proximity to the Marryatville Hotel, police station, post office, and former primary school and bowling club sites. It was the locus for the Coopers Brewery site (many of whom worked in Leabrook and lived in Kensington).The cinema was opened on 24 November 1925, by National Cinemas. The cinema location at 275 Kensington Road has had several boom and recession periods but traditionally experiencing good patronage due to the affluent nature of the surrounding residential and (historically, a farm-based) population. Since opening, it has had a chequered past and was subsequently sold in 1928 to the Ozone Theatres.An Adelaide News advertisement (placed on 30 May 1941) states the cinema had two sessions: an evening one at 7:50 PM on weeknights and a matinée session at 2:00 PM on Wednesdays and Sundays. Reservations could also have been made by telephoning the cinema.The initial refurbishment in 1941 allowed the building to be freshened up with new facilities and internal structures. A function room, parents room and facilities for the hearing impaired were installed with this redevelopment. A feature of the entrance foyer included a fireplace. Upholstered chairs made up the seating arrangements. The plaster mouldings adorning the roof and walls of the cinema were added at this time.