Scone Civic Theatre Scone

The Scone Civic Theatre has recently received minor maintenance and repair works. The iconic heritage building in the main street of Scone has deteriorated in recent years as a result of the theatre being vacant and unused

The Civic Theatre is a prominent and iconic building within the streetscape of Scone," said UHSC Mayor Michael Johnsen. "The required maintenance and repair work has been completed but the timeframe for funding and completing the major work required for the Theatre to be re-opened remains a matter for the owners of the property.""The community, Council and the owner have all indicated a willingness to preserve and restore the building and representatives from the Council hope to meet with the owners in the near future to discuss options for conservation and restoration of the front façade of the building," said Councillor Johnsen.

Professor Minas Coroneo, the well known opthamologist who is working on trialing  the Bionic eye, is one of the owners of the theatre, the Civic having been started by his parents. He recounts his memories of working in the theatre as a boy, feeling a bit like Toto the character in Cinema Paradiso.

He tells a charming story about how doctors on call could go to the Civic and still be reachable if needed,  without disturbing other patrons. 

'The ‘doctors’ had reserved seats in the third row of the dress circle on the centre aisle. The floor in front of the first seat had a hole about one inch in diameter with a glass insert. Below this was an electric light globe, which, when switched on, would make a flash and so attract the one seated there. The doctors’ movements were always known. We were never off the phone. One flash of the light meant Walter (Pye) was needed down on the office phone, two flashes was my call. Sometimes the flash would only mean some phone advice, other times it meant a call away. Theo, the manager, would always know where the doctor had gone so the empty seat could be accounted for as the rest of the party left.

This call system was quite a modern innovation by Theo even though we hated to see the flash. It saved him walking up stairs and disturbing those around by talking (I looked for this hole yesterday but it appears to have been filled in).'

from http://www.kythera-family.net/index.php?nav=6-164&cid=351-359&did=16502