Hunt on to find proprietor to run revamped eatery

Northern Daily Leader

Saturday, April 2, 2011 - page 47

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The hunt is on for a new proprietor to run the refurbished café at the Roxy Theatre. The theatre, which includes one of the few surviving exponents of the Greek café culture in rural NSW, is celebrating its 75th anniversary next Friday.

“We’ll be having an official launch of the café on April 9
and 10,” Roxy Theatre manager Sandy McNaughton said.

A Museum of Greek Settlement is also being incorporated within the
refurbishment. “We’re now seeking further funding for the museum,” Ms McNaughton said.

The theatre was bought by Gwydir Shire Council in 1999; the cafe was bought by the council in 2007.

The theatre was restored in 2003 and reopened in 2004; the café’s restoration process started in February 2010 and was “nearly finished – we’re just waiting on the lights”, Ms McNaughton said.

“We’ve relocated the tourist information centre as well, to incorporate a stairwell and lift as part of the restoration (of the café).”

She said the theatre had “suspended some shows and screenings” while the café restoration was under way.

The Roxy Theatre was built in 1936. The art decostyled café, called Peters & Co Café, was run by three Greek immigrants from the island of Kythera – Peter Feros, George Psaltis and Emanuel Aroney.

“The café shut down in the 1960s and it became a Chinese restaurant,” Ms McNaughton said. “We’re trying to restore it as faithfully as we can, back to its original state.”

Ms McNaughton said she had an original table and three chairs and the original sign from the front of the café which had been restored, plus some of the original booths. “We also have reinstated counters from a café in Inverell,” she said.

“The historical and heritage aspect is essential.