More Info →The Meteor Theatre

Description

The Meteor theatre was located on the west side of The Square, it operated from 1937-1964. This photograph shows the exterior of the building in the late 1950s. Gregory Peck starred in Moby Dick in 1956. Seating capacity was for 940 - 990 people, obtaining its films through J.C. Williamson company known as Palmerston North Amusements Limited. Upon closure it was converted into shops. The theatre was built by Maurice Millar of Millar and Giorgi, local menswear businessmen, with a value of 8500 pounds. In 1947 Robert Kerridge took over the Regent, Vogue, Mayfair and the Meteor establishing the Kerridge-Oden empire. The arrival of Television in 1960 led to a slump in theatre patronage, resulting in the closure of the Meteor and the Vogue. Ian Matheson for Evening Standard August 1990. See: Ian Matheson City Archives Research file A 175/ 148.

Identification

Object type

Image

Relation

Public Photograph Collection T 30

Date

1957 to 1959

Digitisation ID

2014N_T30_009102

Held In

Coolstore