Updated ,first published
Police are investigating a suspicious fire that broke out at the abandoned Homebush Theatre on Parramatta Road overnight.
Emergency services were called to the scene just after 12.40am on Wednesday following reports of a building fire.
The fire comes two days after the Herald published a story on the history of the theatre, revealing the full extent of the 100-year-old building’s dilapidation.
“Officers attached to Auburn Police Area Command attended the scene and located a small fire inside a building before Fire and Rescue NSW extinguished it,” a police spokesperson said.
“There were no injuries reported due to the incident.”
A crime scene has been established and police have commenced an investigation.
A Fire and Rescue spokesperson said the small rubbish fire was located on the second floor and that it was put out quickly, resulting in no significant damage to the building.
The building closed in 1996 and has fallen into significant disrepair.
The former theatre has since become a popular urban exploration site, with videos and photos taken inside the building being regularly shared across social media.
In a century, the Homebush Theatre had many different lives. It operated as a cinema, an ice rink, restaurant and reception centre before it closed in 1996. There was a brief period in 2002 where squatters began occupying the site, which they dubbed the “Midnight Star Social Centre”.
For almost a year, it was used to hold raves, pirate cinema screenings and activist meetings, before the occupants were evicted by police over concerns it was being used as a “nerve centre for anarchists”.
The building is owned by a company called Oretone – a subsidiary of Bondi-based liquor group Kemenys – and is currently being prepared for sale, with an expression of interest campaign to be launched soon.
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Ellie Busby is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
