Capitol Theatre, Sydney

Theatre in Sydney, Australia

The Capitol Theatre is a heritage listed theatre located at 3 15 Campbell Street, Haymarket, in the Sydney central business district, Australia. It was designed by Henry Eli White and John Eberson and built from 1893 to 1928. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The former circus venue, atmospheric theatre and market venue in owned by Capitol Theatre Management Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foundation Theatres Pty Limited. Foundation Theatres owns the Sydney Lyric and Capitol Theatre.

The site of the Capitol Theatre has provided entertainment to the people of Sydney since the early 19th century when this piece of land was used by early settlers as a market place for produce and hay, giving this area its name "Haymarket". During the 1880s facilities for the bulk sale of fruit and vegetables came under increasing pressure. In March 1891, Sydney Council appointed a committee to recommend a new site for a major covered market. They suggested the adjacent space of the Haymarket and this proposal was adopted in the following July. The principal contractor for the building was Alexander Allen of Summer Hill and his tender of was approved in November 1891. The markets opened in July 1893. The New Belmore Markets as it was called was designed by George McRae. The facade presented thirty six arched bays to the streets: eleven to Campbell and Hay and seven to Parker and Pitt Streets. The markets relocated in 1912, after which Wirth Brothers took over the lease and opened their new Wirth Brothers Hippodrome in 1916. Attractions included elaborate circus acts with animals such as elephants and seals, theatre and vaudeville shows. Although performing with some success for a decade, the Hippodrome failed financially. The old site was divided up between the Manning Building (1895–1924), facing Pitt Street, and the western half, which was rebuilt as a theatre in 1928. The conversion was under the control of Robert Hargreave Broderick. The facade was dismantled and re erected above a new ground storey which was in turn mounted on the old footings. The redevelopment was split into two major contracts: the eastern half now known as the Manning Building was awarded to J. M. & A. Pringle in May 1913 and the Hippodrome theatre to the west to William Maston and Thomas Yates in December the same year. The Hippodrome finally opened in April 1916.

A brick building with stone cornices, strings and other dressings, ornamental terracotta capitals, spandrils, rosettes etc. with tiles panels and into which was later built an atmospheric type plaster and brick picture palace. The current theatre was designed by R. H. Broderick. It was intended as a hippodrome for arena theatre and featured stone cornices, terra cotta capitals, rosettes and tiled panels. The architect Henry White turned the interior into a movie palace in 1927, creating the effect of an internal Italian garden or piazza. It also featured an internal imitation courtyard which is the only one surviving in Sydney. The building is listed on the Register of the National Estate. The Capitol Theatre was an "atmospheric" picture palace for many years, but went through a dark period in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1995, Capitol Theatre underwent a massive two year reconstruction costing over $30 million.

As at 1 October 1997, the physical condition is excellent. The archaeological potential is low.

As at 23 April 2001, the Capitol is the only atmospheric theatre to survive substantially intact in Australia. The structural fabric of the Capitol Theatre has a remarkable history of adaptation, reconstruction and restoration to accommodate changing uses. First, as the new Belmore Markets in 1892 93; then as a permanent circus venue (Hippodrome) for Wirth Brothers and an office and shopping block in 1913 16; finally in the conversion of the Hippodrome to an atmospheric theatre for Union Theatres Limited in 1927 28. Capitol Theatre was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. The structural fabric of the Capitol and Manning Buildings have a remarkable history of adaptation, reconstruction and restoration to accommodate changing uses. First, as the new Belmore Markets in 1892 93; then as a permanent circus venue (Hippodrome) for Wirth Brothers and an office and shopping block in 1913 16; finally in the conversion of the Hippodrome to an atmospheric theatre for Union Theatres Limited in 1927 28. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The buildings now on the site: Watkins' terrace, the Capitol Theatre and the Manning Building, together with the adjacent former Commercial Bank and Corporation Building in Hay Street, form a largely nineteenth century enclave, modest in scale, homogenous in alignment and lively in detail, which makes it a precinct of considerable townscape quality. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The Capitol is the only atmospheric theatre to survive substantially intact in Australia.