Wagga’s Capitol Theatre was state-of-the-art when it opened in 1931.
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“Spectacular” was the word long-time resident Evelyn Patterson used to describe it.
As part of the Wagga Rewind series, The Daily Advertiser this week explored the story behind the city’s beloved theatre, that stood where Relationships Australia does now.
It was a landmark of the town, according to Mrs Patterson, who recalled the first time she saw a picture show, with her father.
“It was a different time back then,” Mrs Patterson said. “A different life.”
The 87-year-old said the first movie she saw was terrible. It had been a free screening for the war effort in the ‘40s.
But until its close in the ‘60s, it was “the place to be”.
“We’d play tennis during the day and go to the theatre or dances at night,” Mrs Patterson said.
“You’d watch a main movie and then there’d be another movie and there were news reels too.”
It was a lot different to the cinematograph that was first introduced to Wagga 1897.
Eventually pictures were shown on a biograph at the Oddfellows’ Hall in Fitzmaurice Street and before 1910, cinematograph picture displays were shown at the Southern Cross Amusement Grounds at Wollundry Lagoon.
In 1915, the Great Southern Picture Hall was built on the corner of Baylis and Morrow Streets. The Strand Theatre was constructed the same year at a cost of £10,000.
Union Theatres took control of both the Southern Cross Gardens and The Strand Theatre in 1919, but by 1928, there was a call for a more up-to-date theatre.
The theatre’s grand design, earmarked for Gurwood Street, was set to be the most modern of any country town. However, a scaled-down version was in the works the following year.
After a nightmare financial saga, an even smaller Capitol Theatre was officially opened in 1931. Its motto: “Those who have should spend so that those who haven’t may earn”.
The DA praised the design and its “dazzling magnificence”, its “stately appearance” and “the splendour of its interior and the beauty of its exterior”.
From 1964 the Capitol, the Plaza and the Drive-In had to compete with the television.
Capitol Theatre was the first of the three to close in April 1965; knocked down and replaced with a Coles supermarket.
“What a pity we can’t go back to those days,” Mrs Patterson said.
“It was a free life … a different life.
“We lived through the best era.”