The Garfield Picture Theatre was built in 1924 for Martin Donohue, and according to Mr H. Arnold, who wrote a history of the theatre, it was leased to J. Taylor. It was said to have seated 800 people, and dances were held on Friday evenings with pictures shown on Saturday nights. The theatre was one of the many movie-viewing venues constructed during the Australia-wide boom in cinema building in the 1920s. The Garfield Picture Theatre was Cardinia Shire’s first cinema in the region, followed by Kooweerup’s Wattle Theatre and Pakenham’s King’s Picture Theatre which opened in mid to late 1927. The theatre is significant to the area as it’s one of the few picture theatre buildings remaining in the shire. The Garfield Picture Theatre was not only the main entertainment hub for the area, but it was the town’s first source of electricity. The theatre closed in 1962 and reopened in the 1980s as the Garfield Trading Centre, owned by Sam Jensen, who used to sell used furniture, bric-a-brac and antiques. The theatre stayed that way until 2001, when renovations began by owners Fred and Susan Perez. The theatre was in need of some serious repair and improvement. Fred and Susan spent 17 years relaying and polishing the original floorboards, installing roof insulation, as well as building a commercial kitchen, inside toilets with a disable toilet, upstairs living quarters, full verandah, and drainage and decking around the whole outer edge of the theatre. ​The theatre is a well-preserved and gabled red brick building, with internal renovations creating a grander experience than the original. The front facade still has its original raised cement letters `Garfield Picture Theatre' and sits above a deep cantilever street verandah which extends the front of the building. The Garfield Picture Theatre made a triumphant return as an entertainment venue on Sunday 03 July 2016, and now hosts various music events and is a great venue for weddings, corporate events and dances. The theatre seats 250 and has a lovely outside area with beautiful gardens including piano. Colour photographs of the Garfield Picture Theatre.garfield, garfield theatre

Three colour photographs of the Garfield Picture Theatre.garfield, garfield picture building

non-fictionThe overall objective of the Study was the identification, assessment and documentation of places of post-contact cultural significance for the Cardinia Shire.cardinia shire (vic.), heritage studies, kenilworth coach house (beaconsfield), wood street residential precinct (beaconsfield), george street residential precinct (bunyip), bunyip post office, railway hotel (bunyip), cora lynn catholic parish school, glen-keith farm complex (dalmore), emerald lake park, emerald railway station, emerald country club, cambden woolybutt ros (emerald), oak lee (emerald), sycamore lodge (emerald), cascades guest house, orchard packing shed (garfield north), wattle bank (gembrook), coffee palace (gembrook), tehennepe (iona), koo wee rup public hall, dustings garage (koo wee rup), wattle theatre (koo wee rup), koo wee rup police lockup, royal hotel (koo wee rup), lang lang cemetery, misson's butchers shop & residence (lang lang), anz bank (lang lang), maryknoll residential & civic precinct, maryknoll lawn cemetery, mount burnett guesthouse, oakway (nar nar goon), nar nar goon growers & packers shed, jesmond dene (officer south), kings picture theatre (pakenham), pakenham post office, i.y.u. pre-emptive right homestead site (pakenham), valley view orchards manager's house (pakenham upper), ruthdale reserve trees, rutter farm trees (tooradin), eve's house (tynong north), kia ora (upper beaconsfield), the steyne (upper beaconsfield), beaconsfield upper milk bar, staverton garden (upper beaconsfield), great southern railway