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Extra staff needed for the Friday and
Saturday were now sent out from
the Regent in the city. Many of the
programmes came direct from the St.
James in Wellington where they had
run for a week.

By 1964 it was not if but when the
1950s. Capitol would close. On Saturday 20 Demolition of the auditorium.
th
of June 1964 the Walt Disney film 101
About this time the Ernemann 11 Dalmatians played the matinee. The
projectors were replaced with another evening programme consisted of Disney's
pair of Ernemann 11’s. This would be Born To Sing starring the Vienna Boys
the only theatre that opened and closed Choir and Gidget Goes To Rome with James
with the same model. Darren and Cindy Carol. Projectionists
were Roy Lantz and Pat Reagan.
When the Wellington suburban theatres ran
a baby contest in aid of the Plunket Society With the show over, manager Fred
it was the Capitol that won raising £784, Keeley locked the doors. After 35 years Only the façade was retained.
beating four other theatres. These contests Miramar's Capitol Theatre was closed.
were very popular and a surefire way to (The Kinema at Kilbirnie would close
th
attract more patrons to the theatre. on the 11 of September, 1967). However nothing happened as Jackson
was busy with other projects and the
In late 1955 CinemaScope was finally After stripping the theatre bare, Kerridge- building fell into disrepair, becoming
installed and a series of CinemaScope Odeon sold the building. Its new owners an eyesore and hazard.
films from 20th Century Fox followed. renamed it Capitol Court turning it into
Most popular was the three day run of shops and offices. It was a good location Pressured by the Miramar Businessmen’s
How To Marry A Millionaire. and changed hands a number of times. Association and the Wellington City
Council, Jackson turned the building
over to Selkirk and Richard Taylor who
decided to demolish the building but
keep the facade. Plans were announced
for the building of a new two-screen
cinema, bar and restaurant.

Called The Roxy, Miramar's new
2003 as Capitol Court. $7-million state-of-the-art cinemas finally
th
opened on Thursday April 7 , 2011. +
Product from all distributors was In January 2003, film director Peter Sources:
available to both the Capitol and Jackson and Jamie Selkirk through Wellington City Archives.
the Kinema in Kilbirnie as the rival their Camperdown Studios bought the Evening Post: Jan.23 1929, Dec.24, 1943.
Dominion Post: Jan.21 2003.
chain (Amalgamated Theatres) had building from property investor Terry Kerridge-Odeon Newsletter: June 1952.
no suburban houses in Wellington. Serepisos for $1-million dollars. Film Weekly Directory: 1955-56.
Kerridge-Odeon's only suburban Estate of Roy Lantz.
Film Research (Theatre Files).
competition was a few independents The original aim was to open a museum Christopher Moor; John Palmer; Stan Morris.
and since K.O. could control what titles of exhibits from Jackson's films Photographs from David Lascelles’ Collection
they were supplied with, they were not alongside a three-screen cinema. Additional pics from L.Williams and K. Adams.
a problem. As the 1950’s drew to a
close seating was reduced to 787.

Attendances at the cinema had been
declining for some time, however the The Capitol rebuilt and reborn as The Roxy!
arrival of television (contrary to general
belief) did not cause wholesale closure
of suburban theatres, it did however
contribute to it.

Suburban houses were still profitable but
that profit margin was slowly eroding.
Early in 1961 manager Ivan Harrison was
told to cut costs, there wasn't much he
could do - reduction of overheads were
already pared down to the bone.

CINEMAREC ORD 2012 33