Chelsea Cinema
Kensington, Adelaide
Autumn
2009 - Preservation News
The Adelaide chapter of ADMS is currently engaged in a battle to ensure the continued operation and preservation of the Chelsea Cinema in Kensington. Built in 1925, it received an exterior make-over in Deco style in 1941. The Chelsea is on the State Heritage Register both for its Art Nouveau interior by Chris Smith and its Deco exterior. In 1968 it was purchased by Burnside Council to save it from demolition and it has since been rented by Wallis Cinema chain, Wallis have been negotiating to convert the theatre to a complex, but Burnside Council recently decided to sell the buildng by public tender, with Wallis given 'first option', which has aroused much community anger. ADMS has offered to work constructively with the current and future owners (whoever they may be) of this building to take it forward into the next 80 years.
