Wonthaggi's century-old arts venue the Union Theatre like a 'Swiss Army knife'

A sense of community pride and love for the arts appear to be the secret to survival for a town's beloved venue celebrating its 100th birthday.

The Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre in regional Victoria has survived much social, political and cultural change over a century.

From the early days of miners' meetings to a hangout for teenagers seeing films such as ET, the venue, also known as the Union Theatre, has endured in the working-class town of Wonthaggi in South Gippsland.

Bass Coast Shire Council cultural program coordinator David Burrows said people kept coming back to the theatre for the experiences they enjoyed there and the feelings they left with.

"Sometimes they walk out confused, sometimes they walk out elated, sometimes they walk out melancholic," he said.

"But they have a broad range of emotional, intellectual and cultural experiences and feel connected and belong to a community." 

Born in a booming mining town

With the establishment of the State Coal Mine in 1909, the township of Wonthaggi, 130 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, became a bustling industrial hub driven by a cooperative movement. 

As mining boomed, by 1930 the town boasted a new workmen's club, friendly society, dispensary, dental clinic and cooperative store.

But the desire for a union hall and theatre would cement the mining community's permanence in the town.

"There were already a couple of other theatres in town. There was the Plaza Theatre, but the miners' union [Victorian Coal Miners Association] wanted their own cultural space," Mr Burrows said.

A fundraising campaign to build the venue began in 1914, and union members contributed one shilling a fortnight from their pay as a subscription.

Progress was slow, interrupted by Australia's involvement in World War I and restrictions due to the Spanish flu pandemic.

It took 10 years, but in 1924, the Union Theatre was finally completed at a total cost of 8,000 pounds.

Change through the decades

With iron-laced leather seating for 850 patrons, men's and women's cloakrooms, a union office and supper room, the building soon hosted fancy balls, concerts, public speakers and motion pictures.

But the grand opening would be further thwarted by a seven-week miners' strike, resulting in a more modest social fundraising event on February 14, 1925, in aid of the "distressed".

In 1934, a five-month strike would leave hundreds of families impoverished, turning the venue into a welfare and food distribution outlet, and the location for the formation of a Women's Auxiliary.

"With the union meetings and the strikes that occurred, the venue became a bit of a hub for the co-operative action within the town," Mr Burrows said.

In the 1940s, the venue had a Hollywood makeover with three brass-plated double doors and red and gold fleur-de-lis foyer carpet. 

But the arrival of television and the gradual closure of the mine, which ceased operations in 1968, resulted in an overall decline in attendance to theatre productions, film nights and fundraisers throughout the post-war era.

With the mine closure and loss of union funding, the neglected building fell into the hands of the Sydney-based Australian Miners Federation.

End of the coal era  

In 1975, the Wonthaggi Theatrical Group purchased the decrepit building for $13,500, but was unable to keep up with the operational expenses and sold the facility to the Borough of Wonthaggi four years later.

Soon after, in April 1980, a fire destroyed the building, along with lighting, props, costumes and a full orchestra of instruments, devastating the local community.

"There were intentions for the site to be turned into a car park."

But a conditional clause in the deed of sale had stated that the site had to remain a cultural centre and performance venue in perpetuity.

After much community lobbying to the state government, a new $1.28 million, 420-seat theatre complex, complete with a library and art gallery space in the foyer was rebuilt, reopening as the Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre in November 1982.

In September 1984, the centre hosted the premiere of Richard Lowenstein's local film feature debut, Strikebound.

The film featured locals as extras, and the premiere was attended by then-prime minister Bob Hawke, who was greeted with a street parade and fanfare by the Wonthaggi Citizens' Band.

Strikebound, a gritty noir dramatisation of the 1930s miners' strike of Korumburra and rise of the trade union movement in Victoria, would become pivotal to the town's tourism industry.

Funding from the movie paid for the State Coal Mine to be drained and it is now a tourist attraction.

Throughout the 80s, 90s and 2000s, the theatre continued to screen popular releases as one of the only entertainment venues for teenagers in town.

"We don't have a cinema in the shire, the closest commercial operator is in Leongatha, so in a sense it does fill a bit of a gap there. But the venue isn't just a cinema, it's a Swiss Army knife."

He said the venue continued to host the Wonthaggi Theatrical Group, large-scale musical productions, dance schools, school performances, the 115-year-old Wonthaggi Citizens' Band, and a variety of touring acts such as the annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Connecting people

With an influx of retired sea and tree changers giving rise to the Bass Coast Fine Film Group in 2009, one of the largest community groups in the shire, the venue is also described as a home for art-house cinema in the region.

Under the influence of Keith Stevens, who managed the venue from 2001–2017, film lovers were treated to a selection of independent and international films and the start of the Wonthaggi International Film Festival in 2010.

The centre has reverted to its original name, the Union Theatre, for its centenary year and has been under the management of the Bass Coast Shire since 2018, which has embraced its significance to cultural life.

For a town that has evolved from coal mines to wind turbines in the space of a century, Mr Burrows is mindful of catering for the broad demographic of the expanding Bass Coast population.

"To make sure that everyone feels that they've had a good experience here."

Mr Burrows said the venue would "keep living" as long as younger generations were encouraged to participate in and appreciate creative expression.

"Cultural material is about helping people feel connected, pushing people's thoughts, triggering conversations, opening points of view, enlarging empathy and stimulating creativity."