Before the construction of the Coles Arcade in Eltham, there was a red brick hall about where the Chemist shop now is. This hall was used for public meetings and film shows. After it was removed there was nowhere to show films. When Bruce Holland (75-76) was president, Les Clarke developed a proposal to convert a disused supermarket in Montmorency into a cinema. After some apprehension as to whether the club should be involved with a property owned by the wives of Rotarians Neville Emerson and Brian Smythe, it was agreed to adopt this project. A joint project with Eltham Apex, hence the name Rotex, was commenced and was to be funded by the formation of a cooperative company with shares paid at 10 cents in the dollar - this method having been used by Les Clarke with the foundation of Eltham College. The management committee of Rotarians and Apexians was established.
In President Bob McLellan’s time (76-77) enough funding had been obtained to carry out the physical alterations necessary. We had ‘working bees’ to change the floor to a sloping one, and I remember Doug Blaikie welding the frame for the screen and John Maltha making and hanging curtains along the side walls.The early years were successful and Rotex was showing new release films. There were some problems with the second-hand projection equipment, which turned out to be not as good as expected and had to be replaced. The cinema seated about 300 and it was considered that it would be viable if half full. After a while audience numbers were declining. Neville Emerson took over the day to day management but was unable to revive it. After the opening of the Greensborough multiplex it would seem that Rotex was no longer getting new release films.
When I was president (81-82) the management committee decided to close. It was considered that the cooperative had debts of around $60,000 and there was a concern that shareholders would be called on for the balance of 90 cents per share. To our knowledge this was the first cooperative in Victoria to close. The Rotary Board made a decision that it would not underwrite this debt. This decision led to the resignation of three past presidents, Bob McLellan, Neville Emerson and Les Clarke. This was particularly devastating as at that stage we only had eight past presidents. Fortunately, no call was made on the debt and Bob and Neville returned to the club. It is to my continuing regret that we lost Les Clarke who was a great ideas member.This is my recollection of this project and might not agree with others involved. While I was a member of the Board (in various positions) for the entire period covered, I do not think that I was aware of all the decisions that were made. The building is now occupied by the Montmorency Newsagency.
