Hoyts Regent 1-3
52 Cuba Street,
Wellington
6011
52 Cuba Street,
Wellington
6011
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Hoyts Cinemas, Kerridge-Odeon
Firms: Rigby James and Partners
Previous Names: Regent Centre 1-3
Nearby Theaters
Located in the Te Aro district in the south of the city Centre as a replacement to the 1920’s built 1,239-seat Regent Theatre on Manners Street/Cuba Street (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). Designed by architectural firm Rigby James & Partners for Kerridge-Odeon. Regent Centre 1-3 opened in 1982 as a 3-screen cinema, with seating for 442, 442 & 420-seats. It was taken over by Hoyts in 1994, it was closed in 1995
It was replaced by a five screen complex named Hoyts 6-10 and later Hoyts Manners Mall which closed late in 2009. That cinema building has been redeveloped as a Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
Contributed by
David Coppock
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The original Wellington Opera House was built on this site in the 1880s. In 1915 it became Everybodys Theatre screening silents. It was demolished in 1924 and the spectacular Regent Theatre was built. It was lavishly decorated in the house style of J C Willamson Theatres of which the Regent in Palmerston North and Melbourne are of the few still surviving.
It was always a prestige 1st release house and was always programmed for the more “quality” films. It suffered major earthquake damage in 1942 and was closed for several months. It was taken over by Kerridge Odeon Theatres in 1945 and continued until 1978 it was deemed an earthquake risk and was demolished. It also caught fire at this time.
The Regent Center was opened in 1982. Ground level was a walk through shopping mall linking through to Cuba Street and upstairs were 3 cinemas seating 450, 450 & 230 plus a large restaurant and bar. The cinemas were very poorly designed with the screens being too big and the front rows always being a source of complaint. Opening night films were ‘The French Lieutenants Woman’‘Arthur’ & ‘The Scarecrow’.
It was taken over by Hoyts Cinemas in 1993 and increased to 5 screens by dividing the two 450s straight down the middle into 4 X 200. These proved much better than before although they were very long and narrow so the screen size was now quite small. It was renamed Regent 5 and then Hoyts Regent on Manners. Hoyts had also taken over the nearby Midcity 3 and also increased that to 5 screens.
Major competition came with the opening of The Reading Cinema Centre in Courtenay Place and in 2009 both the Regent and Midcity were closed and Hoyts pulled out of Wellington.