Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Metro Kings Cross

Luxurious Art Deco style theatre and offices originally built in 1939 as a live entertainment complex called the Minerva. It was bought in 1948 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and converted into a cinema, renaming it the Metro Kings Cross in 1952. After MGM was bought out by Greater Union Organisation in 1969, Harry M Miller staged the musical Hair at the theatre and it returned to live theatre use until 1976. It was converted to a short-lived shopping centre in 1981 before shopping market before being acquired in 1982 for use as a film studio by Kennedy Miller Mitchell.

-33.871971123219, 151.22435762733

Milestone
Constructed
1938 - 1939
Opened
18 May 1939
Name
Alternate
Minerva Theatre
1939 - 1952
Alternate
Metro Cinema
29 Apr 1950 - 1969
Alternate
Metro Theatre
1969 - 1979
Position
1937 - 1938
1938
1938
1938
05 Jun 1969 - 1979
Property
Owned by
1939 - 1950
Occupied by
Apr 1941 - 28 Apr 1950
Owned by
1950 - 1969
Owned by
1969 - 1982
Owned by
1982 -
Type

The Minerva Theatre and Metro Kings Cross

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2016

The Minerva Theatre, and inter-war functionalist theatre opened in 1939 and renamed the Metro Kings Cross in 1952, has a long association with the nightlife of Kings Cross and Sydney's stage and screen history.