| Reference Type |
Unknown
|
| Title |
LaTrobe Union Minutes |
| Section |
Mr. Michael Torney's office. By appointment only. |
| Issue |
1970s - 1980s |
| Town |
Bundoora |
| State |
VIC |
| Country |
Australia |
| Publication Date |
|
| Citation Date |
00-04-2012 |
| Comments |
Located in Michael Torney's office at LaTrobe, Bundoora, is a large collection of minutes from LaTrobe Union meetings. Dating from the 1970's to mid 1980's, these minutes hold a substantial amount of key information on the planning and construction of The Agora.
The minutes tell a story, of an idea put to the Union from a needy theatre group. It is clear that the students wanted some extra space, a place to show proper screenings. The Agora Theatre was the space that the students and teachers had to show screenings/hold lectures at, before The Agora Cinema arrived. The students wanted to expand the theatre, to have a larger more useable space with better equipment. The Union took this idea on board, with the thought that the space could be used as a commercial cinema out of University hours. Mr. Michael Torney was the Union Director and Manager of The Agora in those days, therefore had a key involvement in this project. The minutes paint a picture of a long and difficult process that Mr. Torney and the Union went through to get this cinema up and running; a lot of years of planning. They had to go through every little detail of planning and construction, from what colour theme to how many telephone lines in the building. A few years down the track of the planning, Valhalla Cinemas showed interest. Valhalla Cinemas was a popular art-house cinema, whose owner, Barry Peak, opened several cinemas in Australia (mainly Melbourne) from the late 1970âs. These include: The Academy Valhalla Twin Cinema in Melbourne on the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, Valhalla at the Agora at La Trobe University, late shows at The Astor in St Kilda and then at The National in St Kilda as well as cinemas in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. The minutes portray Barry Peak as a positive investment for LaTrobe University as he would work as the Proprietor of The Agora, potentially bringing in a substantial amount of cash from commercial use.
This is a reliable and resourceful reference; however, it will take time to sort through all the documents in order to find specific topics. Anyone interested in researching The Agora (i.e. students, teachers, historians etc.) would be encouraged to utilize this reference. In addition, anyone interested in researching small private owned cinemas, the construction of cinemas in the 1970âs and various relating topics, this information will be beneficial. This resource is extremely valuable due to the documents are rare original papers and there is evidently sparse research to be found on The Agora elsewhere.
|
| Synopsis |
Numerous (i.e. hundreds) of loose sheets/papers documented into bound books or protected in plastic pockets. A lot to shift through if looking for a particular topic.
Topics covered throughout these minutes; whom was involved in the planning, building and managing of The Agora, equipment proposed and purchased, costs, visual plans of inside the cinema, operating hours, naming of the cinema and more. |
tags: Barry Peak LaTrobe Union The Agora Valhalla
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