Perhaps the Notaras Brothers attempted to beat Dorgan at his own game because, as well as building the Saraton, they gained control of the Fitzroy in the early 1930s.

It was only after the closure of the Fitzroy that Dorgan perhaps decided to reopen the Saraton, it also being the only well-built substantial theatre in town suitable for upgrading into a first class venue.

[1] From personal communication with Mr. Les Tod, George Rae related that he had designed about 30 picture theatres in Queensland and ones at Murwillumbah, Casino, Cabramatta, Ballina, and Grafton.

[1] These immigrants frequently went to country towns to set themselves up in a small catering type of business - food shops or cafes that prepared Australian-style meals.

[1] Greek immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries mainly came from islands, (particularly Kythera), coastal towns and inland villages with what is described as a peasant background, often with little, if any, formal education.

[9] Spiro, Angelo, Mitchell and John Notaras then bought out all the other family members and decided to renovate the building themselves, closing the theatre in 2008 and undertaking a major multi-year redevelopment.

It also installed a marble-floored foyer, a modern sound system and more spacious and comfortable seating, which decreased the capacity of the main theatre from 1200 to around 1050, entirely replaced the building's plumbing, and restored the interior down to small details such as the original bathroom signs.

[11][12][13] After long delays due to various issues, the redeveloped Saraton Theatre opened after two-and-a-half years of renovations on 2 September 2010.

It possesses an extraordinarily deep flush fascia finished in almost square panels of fibre (probably asbestos) cement without cover strips.

[1] The soffit lining to the awning is, for the length of the theatre, in pressed metal of an angular Art Deco style design (consistent with the 1940 alterations).

The four sets of 1940 vintage double doors are handsome with their varnished timber finish and heavy triple horizontal, chrome push bars.

Above the doors, for their full length, is one of the largest seen (for a single screen cinema) rear-illuminated opalescent program sign to take removable letters (for the films currently being shown).

[1] On each side of the dress circle stair the lower landing continues to two sets of double doors giving entry to the stalls.

Along these extensions of the lower landing are the toilets, each with an illuminated frosted glass panel (above the door) painted with either a man or woman dressed in cocktail or evening dress.of the period.

The central height was dictated by the projection beam of light from the operating (bio) box to a screen that provided suitable sight-lines.

This requirement forced the trusses (and the later ceiling) to be high over the front portion of the theatre, thus creating a noble visual quality to this part of the auditorium space.

[1] At the rear of the auditorium, over the dress circle, the roof was stepped up in relatively short lengths, to provide both adequate headroom and space for the projection light beam.

To the non-expert viewer this ceiling appears to be an abstract blocky composition of steps, overlaid with flutes and bands, tumbling down the auditorium.

[27] Apart from the now demolished Kings Theatre at Mosman (Sydney), this is the best example in NSW (now the only example) of this type of intricate design of suspended (apparent) weight within a given envelope.

The facing to the balustrade ha been formed, in a slightly bellied shape, with sheet-metal pressed lightly with a repetitive pattern of stylised vertical "stalks".

As an example of Greek immigrant interest in theatre construction in country NSW to supply entertainment to the majority Anglo-Celtic population, it has been owned by the Notaras family for the 73 years of its existence.

[1] Saraton Theatre was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 9 June 2000 having satisfied the following criteria.

The importance of such historical phase or phenomenon may be gauged...by its physical manifestations, including the number of theatre buildings then existing [from 1910 to 1960], the amount of employment created, the fact that "picture going" was second only to sport as a leisure time activity, and by its impact on popular taste of the time where concerned with fashion, design generally, language, music and behaviour.

as being "historic - meaning noted in history" and 'historical - belonging to history'[30][1] Special association with the life or works of a person: As far as is known it only has a modest link to Sir Earle Page, MHR for the district, former long-time leader of the Country Party, Deputy Prime Minister first to Stanley Melbourne Bruce, then to Ben Lyons; and Prime Minister for a brief period.

For the state of NSW it represents the best of what was built in a country city of modest size - its owners being complimented by the Mayor in 1926 for investing so much money, and for their setting an example to other people in the town whom he hoped would follow suit.

(Entertainment Tax on admissions shows that many more people attended picture theatres than all sports, including racing, combined, on an annual basis.)

This theatre, as with other types of the genre that are in rare quantity in the state, shows young people and future generations what it was like for their forebears to attend cinema and participate in the major commercial leisure and social activity of the time (from, say, 1910 to 1960).

The Saraton Theatre is an example of a building type and style that was once common in country towns but now rare with only 14 still operating, and in recognisable original condition to their pre-World War II designs (13 of which were built before 1942).

(Source for 1951: A list compiled from the Film Weekly Motion Picture Directory, 1951–52 with town entries checked against "urban centres" in the 1954 ABS Census.

The Saraton is therefore one of nearly four per cent of country picture theatres still operating in relatively original design condition as existed in the first half of the 20th century.