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The Metro Theatre in Perth was officially demolished in February 1974, following its emotional final closure on October 13, 1973. Located at 99 William Street, the building’s demolition marked the end of a golden era for the city’s single-screen movie palaces, making way for modern commercial developments.

The venue initially opened on April 19, 1899, as Queen’s Hall, hosting live performers before transitioning into a cinema known as Vic’s Pictures. In 1927, it was converted into the Hoyts Regent Theatre. Its most iconic iteration came in 1938 when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) took over the lease. Architects Baxter, Cox and Leighton completely gutted and remodeled the venue into a magnificent, 1,405-seat Art Deco masterpiece, reopening it as the Metro Theatre on September 27, 1938.

By the early 1970s, the rise of suburban shopping malls, television, and drive-in theatres began killing off classic inner-city movie palaces. MGM chose to close the doors of the theater in late 1973.

The final night on October 13, 1973, concluded with a sold-out revival screening of Gone with the Wind.

According to historical accounts shared by patrons, as the last frames of the movie went through the projector, an image of MGM’s “Leo the Lion” was superimposed onto the screen. As the house lights slowly rose, a lone bagpiper walked down the aisles playing “The Last Lament,” leaving many lifelong patrons in tears.

The structure was fully wrecked in February 1974. Demolition crews reportedly struggled to dislodge one of the massive structural steel beams inside the building due to its robust construction. The site was cleared to build the headquarters of the Perth Building Society (which later became Challenge Bank and eventually Westpac).

While the theatre is gone, a tiny piece of its physical history survived: a decorative bas-relief salvaged from the wreckage was preserved and later displayed on the walls of a Northbridge nightclub.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -