Dictionary of Sydney

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.