Theatre Renown, Midland.

Gilbert Trefry and his employer Albert Herbert left the goldfields of Day Dawn in 1918 and bought into the picture showing business at Midland. They were showing silent movies at the old Empire Theatre and the Midland Town Hall two nights a week. At that time movies were manually run by the operator cranking a handle so Herbert designed a water motor to run what could have been the only water-run movies in the world.

In 1927 Herbert and Trefry built the Theatre Renown in Helena Street, claimed to be one of the most modern and comfortable theatres in the metropolitan area. The new theatre nearly sent the two men broke and just as they were recovering from their massive investment, silent films were superseded by ‘talkies’ which required further investment in new equipment.

When Herbert died, Trefry continued to operate the theatre until 1954 when he leased the business to Consolidated Theatres. The theatre closed in 1968 after which the building was used as a furniture store. The building was demolished in the late 1970s.