The story behind the Playhouse pigeon holes

The old picture this week takes in the Playhouse dovecotes which stand outside the building in Anton Lembede (Smith) Street.

Published on December 12 1986, the picture features architect Gordon Small who rescued the dovecotes from the foyer of the old Playhouse, when it was undergoing the renovation for NAPAC to become the Playhouse that we know today.

With the Grand Foyer being used for exhibitions and performances, the original dovecotes were in the way. They were taken out of storage, dusted off and with permission from council cemented into the pavement outside the Playhouse.

“They were in the way but we didn’t want to get rid of them, as they were quite a feature in the old days,” Small said. “After two years of negotiating with the city they have finally given us permission to put them in the street.”

The dovecotes also conceal lighting used to light up the Playhouse facade.

The dovecotes still stand in Anton Lembede Street today, as Shelley Kjonstad’s pictures show.

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