Wyvern Theatre September 2006, it closed temporarily after the discovery of traces of asbestos in the venue's offices and roof void during a routine inspection. It remained closed until September 2007 and the closure was used to refurbish the venue, bringing new decor, bars, cafés, disabled entrances and new seating costing £1.3 million. The first performance afterwards was on 25 September 2007. Over the years The Wyvern Theatre has had its own mascot in the form of a 6-foot-high green dragon-like creature known as Willy the Wyvern. Willy the Wyvern became the theatre's mascot originally during in its founding years but faded
Wyvern House infants department. From 1939 Wyvern House boys wore a straw boater with a black hat-band until this was replaced by a black cloth cap in 1976. Both items of head-wear bore an heraldic Wyvern – the emblem of Newington College. Wyvern held a separate Speech Night for the first time in 1946. From 1957 Wyvern had a brother school when Newington opened an additional preparatory school on the North Shore – first at Killara, but now at Lindfield. In the same year, Wyvern House was the first Australian prep school to undertake an international Rugby tour, when it visited New