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95. THE CAPITOL TftEATRE - MELBOURNE by Rod Cook

With cinema complexes springing up throughout the sub- The architects were Walter Burley Griffin, his wife Marion
urbs, the term 'picture palace', with few notable excep- Mahoney, and S.A. Peck. Their final drawings were sub-
tions, belongs to the past. Cinemas today, can be best de- mitted to the Victorian Board of Health on the 21st of No-
scribed as being 'purely functional', designed for maxim- vember 1921. final approval for tJ1e commencement of
ising the greatest throughput of patrons each day at the construction was given on the 9th of February 1923 with a
venue. view to the project being completed and opened for busi-
ness the following year.
It is ironic, and extremely fortunate, that the city of Mel-
bourne still retains three examples of what can truly be
termed ' picture palaces' in the broadest sense of the term.
'The Regent' has been fully restored, 'The State' still ex-
ists with most of its features relatively intact, albeit di-
vided into two auditoriums, and last but not least the third
and most unique of these, the 'Capitol' is undergoing a
renaissance after almost being lost to the public.

This article will attempt to briefly chronicle the life. so
far, of 'The Capitol'.

ln 1921, when the first drawings were completed for 'The
'Capitol', Melbourne's cinemas and indeed most through-
out the world were of varying quality, ranging from con-
verted warehouses to live theatres. Few had architectural
significance.

Silent films were maturing and the quality feature was
becoming the nom1 as larger companies began to invest
more in their major productions.

Faith in the motion picture was such, that land fronting
Swanston Street, near the Melbourne Town Hall, was ac-
quired from the Howey estate. The name Howey is still
associated in Melboume through ' Howey Place' and in
England through the Romney, Hythe & Dymcburch Rail-
way, the smallest public railway, which was commissioned
by Howey and is stiU in operation today.
Walter Burley Griffin c. 1930
The site had a frontage of 86 feet and a depth of 224 feet
which backs onto Howey Place. Two proprietary compa- The building required some 12,000 tons of concrete, 700
nies acquired the land. The directors were Mr. A.J.J. Lucas tons of steel bars and approximately 500 tons of structural
(Chaim1an), Mr. Herman Phillips (who was also the gov- steel. The beams for the theatre roof have a 60 feet span
erning director of the picture theatre) and Howey himself, and weigh 80 tons each. Most notable was the balcony
who would sit on the board when he was in Australia. area of the theatre as it did not require intermediate posts
The building, which would incorporate 'The Capitol', con- for suppo1t. Electrically, over 60 miles of cable was re-
tained a basement extending the full area of the site and a quired and included outlets for some 4,000 lamps for illu-
twelve storey office block. One of the directors, A.J. J. mination. The building itself was advanced for its day,
Lucas ( 1862 - 1946) who statted business as a cafe owner utilising steel and reinforced concrete. The roof level of
in the vicinity. He commissioned Walter Burley Griffin, the building was to have had projecting balconies, incor-
an American architect to renovate one of his properties, porating a restaurant. Tllis was not to eventuate as the
the Vienna Restaurant, which was renamed Cafe Australia City Engineer was not impressed.
after its completion. The use of fire resistant materials allowed for a licence to
be granted for the cinema's use as a ' live theatre' .
Griffin bad been involved in a number of projects in Aus-
tralia, including the laying out ofthe national capital, Can- With construction completed, all was in readiness for the
berra and several buildings in Melbourne. Lucas was not grand opening. Melbumians were about to have a truly
finished with Griffin and with his business buoyant com- grand 'picture palace' to see quality films in luxury sur-
missioned Griffin and his associates to build 'Capitol roundings. The magnificence of the interior must have
House' which was to incorporate a two level theatre for been a talking point from the beginning of construction.
the screening of motion pictures.

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