# Semaphore Library
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{{Short description|Heritage listed public library in South Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Semaphore Library
| image = Semaphore Town Hall.jpg
| caption = Semaphore Town Hall, circa 1937
| type =
| locmapin =
| coordinates = {{coord|34.838679|S|138.481337|E|format=dms|type:landmark_region:AU-SA|display=inline,title}}
| location = 10-14 Semaphore Road
[Semaphore SA](/source/Semaphore%2C_South_Australia) 5019
| built = 1884
| architect = [Wright and Reed](/source/Wright_and_Reed)
| architecture =
| governing_body = [City of Port Adelaide Enfield](/source/City_of_Port_Adelaide_Enfield)
| designation1 = South Australian Heritage Register
| designation1_type = State Heritage Place
| designation1_date = 1 September 1983
| designation1_number = 2984
}}
The '''Semaphore Library''' is a [public library](/source/public_library) in [Semaphore](/source/Semaphore%2C_South_Australia), South Australia. It was formerly the '''Semaphore Institute''', '''Semaphore Town Hall''', '''Ozone Theatre''', and '''Semaphore Cinema''', and is [heritage-listed](/source/heritage-listed) on both the state and national registers.
==Institute and town hall==
The building was constructed as the Semaphore Institute, an early [mechanics institute](/source/mechanics_institute), and opened on 15 March 1884. It was designed by architects [Wright and Reed](/source/Wright_and_Reed), and built by Williams & Cleave. It was a stone building with an iron roof, with a main hall and stage, entrance room, library and reading room on the ground floor, and offices for the local municipality, the [Corporate Town of Semaphore](/source/Corporate_Town_of_Semaphore), and a gallery on the second floor.[{{cite web | url=https://www.portenf.sa.gov.au/sitedata/unity/resources/files/SemaphoreLibraryHistory.pdf | title=Semaphore Library History | publisher=City of Port Adelaide Enfield | accessdate=19 November 2015}}]
In 1889, it was sold to the municipality to be used as the Semaphore Town Hall.[{{cite web | url=http://semaphoresa.com.au/history/a-chronology-of-semaphore/ | title=A Chronology of Semaphore | date=25 September 2013 | publisher=Semaphore Mainstreet Association | accessdate=19 November 2015}}] The municipality merged with the adjacent [Corporate Town of Port Adelaide](/source/Corporate_Town_of_Port_Adelaide) in 1900, but it continued to be rented out for community events by the Port Adelaide council.
From 1910 until around 1912 or 1913, the hall was used as a temporary cinema by a number of organisers while continuing to be used for other community functions.[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124831614 |title=Semaphore Wondergraph. |newspaper=[Daily Herald (Adelaide)](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide)) |volume=3|issue=739 |location=South Australia |date=19 July 1912 |access-date=31 December 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} ][{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124821818 |title=Semaphore Wondergraph. |newspaper=[Daily Herald (Adelaide)](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide)) |volume=3 |issue=770 |location=South Australia |date=28 August 1912 |access-date=31 December 2022 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}] [Ozone Theatres Ltd](/source/Ozone_Theatres_Ltd);[{{cite web | title=Hugh Waterman and sons extend the Ozone cinema chain from Adelaide's Semaphore in 1911 to eastern states| website=AdelaideAZ | url=https://adelaideaz.com/articles/hugh-water-and-his-sons-extend-the-ozone-cinema-chain-from-adelaide-s-semaphore-in-1911-to-the-eastern-states | access-date=17 December 2022}}] and the People's Concert and Picture Company.[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5230713 |title=Amusements. |newspaper=[The Advertiser (Adelaide)](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide)) |volume=LIII |issue=16,296 |location=South Australia |date=9 January 1911 |access-date=31 December 2022 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}} ]
During the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), the [All-British League](/source/All-British_League) held meetings and recruitment drives at the town hall.[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105383919 |title=All-British League |newspaper=[Daily Herald (Adelaide)](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide)) |volume=7 |issue=2116 |location=South Australia |date=1 January 1917 |access-date=31 December 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}]
==Cinema==
In 1929, the town hall underwent extensive renovations to designs in [Art Deco](/source/Art_Deco_architecture) style by architect [Christopher Arthur Smith](/source/Christopher_Arthur_Smith) and converted into a [cinema](/source/movie_theater),[ Smith was a prominent architect of the period, designing many theatres and cinemas, and a number of public buildings including a refurbishment of the [Brighton Town Hall](/source/Brighton_Town_Hall%2C_Adelaide).][{{cite web | url=http://w3.unisa.edu.au/artarchitecturedesign/architecturemuseum/docs/catalogue/SmithC2010.pdf | title=Smith, Chris | publisher=University of South Australia | work=Architecture Museum Biography Series | accessdate=19 November 2015}}]
The company later became [Ozone Theatres](/source/Ozone_Theatres), and would become one of the two major movie chains in South Australia.[ However, box office takings suffered from the introduction of television, and Hoyts closed the cinema on 21 May 1960.][{{cite web | title=Semaphore Cinema in Adelaide, AU | website=Cinema Treasures | url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/35458 | access-date=16 December 2022}}]
In 1966 the [stalls](/source/stalls_(theatre)) area was converted into a [youth club](/source/youth_club) (Semaphore Youth Club), which included a [boxing ring](/source/boxing_ring) (closed in 1978). In December 1977, a small cinema opened in the former [dress circle](/source/dress_circle), known as the Semaphore Cinema and run by Alan and Fran Hall.[
The building was vacant from 1985 to 1993, when the [City of Port Adelaide](/source/City_of_Port_Adelaide) restored the building as the Semaphore Library,][
==Heritage listing==
The building, located at 14 Semaphore Road, was listed on the [South Australian Heritage Register](/source/South_Australian_Heritage_Register) on 1 September 1983, and was also listed on the [Register of the National Estate](/source/Register_of_the_National_Estate).][{{cite web | url=http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=2984 | title=Semaphore Library & Shops | publisher=Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure | work=South Australian Heritage Register | accessdate=19 November 2015 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119201249/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=2984 | archivedate=19 November 2015 | df=dmy-all }}][{{cite web | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;search=town%3Dsemaphore%3Bkeyword_PD%3Don%3Bkeyword_SS%3Don%3Bkeyword_PH%3Don%3Blatitude_1dir%3DS%3Blongitude_1dir%3DE%3Blongitude_2dir%3DE%3Blatitude_2dir%3DS%3Bin_region%3Dpart;place_id=10332 | title=Semaphore Cinema (former) | publisher=Department of the Environment | work=Register of the National Estate | accessdate=19 November 2015}}]
The building remains substantially intact from its previous uses, and its state heritage listing notes that "enough interior elements of both periods [as a cinema] remain for it to be quite a significant representative of suburban cinemas in their heyday".