A NEW THEATRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 236, 5 October 1935, Page 10

A NEW THEATRE.

COSTING £40,000. J. C. WILLIAMSON PROJECT. CITY SITE ACQUIRED. At a cost of about £40,000, the J. C. Williamson Corporation, Ltd., intends to build a modern and luxurious picture theatre, to accommodate between 900 and 1000 people, at. the south-east corner of Lome and Wellesley Streets. The site is at present occupied by a building containing two garages and several shops and offices. Work will commence in about a month’s time, and the new theatre, to be known as the Embassy, is expected to open toward the end of February.

Arrangements for the transfer of the property were completed yesterday between Ah'. W. J. Crowther, acting as trustee of the estate of his father, the late Air. W. Crowther, and Air. F. Beaumont Smith, managing director of the J. C. Williamson Picture Corporation, who acquired the lease of the site on behalf of the. corporation for about £lO,OOO. Air. Beaumont Smith left for Sydney by the Alariposa yesterday afternoon.

The theatre, it is claimed, will be the most up to date in New Zealand, providing accommodation for patrons on two floors. In the design of the theatre, which will be built of ferro-concrete, the architect, Air. Llewelyn Williams, of Wellington, has paid special attention to acoustic properties, lighting, ventilation, spaciousness and decorative effects, as it is intended that the theatre shall cater particularly for long-season films. The main contractor is Air. W. Williamson, of Christchurch, but the steel work will be done by the Fletcher Construction Company, Ltd., of Auckland. Built CO years ago on foundations of stone from the wall that used to surround the old Albert Barracks, the building which now occupies the site was constructed for the late Air. W. Crowther, a former Mayor of the city and M.P. for Auckland City. It was for many years occupied by the Salvation Armv.