History of Mackay’s City Cinema – Written by Steven Pritchard

The City Cinema located in Gordon Street Mackay began operating as the Civic Theatre and later became known as the City Cinema.

The Civic Theatre was officially opened during World War II on September 16 1940 by then Member for Mackay and Premier of Queensland William Forgan Smith. The Civic Theatre in 1940 was the only cinema north of Brisbane which was air conditioned. Movies shown on opening day were: My Son, My Son and Cavalcade Of Academy Awards. The Civic Theatre contained only one theatre. The Theatre was taken over by current owners Birch Carroll and Coyle on August 2 1972. Movies on takeover day were: The Heist and RPM. The Civic closed on November 8 1975. The final movie shown was The Sound of Music.

The Civic became the City Cinema in 1975.The Gala Opening was held on December 11 1975. The City Cinema was also officially opened on December 11 by then Member for Whitsunday Ron Camm - following renovations. The Movie shown on the official opening day of the City Cinema was: Jaws. Prior to the Gala and official openings the Booking office for the new theatre was located at then Mackay Department Store ‘David Jones’ which was located on the site of the Current National Australia Bank on the corner of Victoria & Sydney Sts. The Booking office opened for business at David Jones on December 3 1975. The City Cinema at this time still only contained one theatre. The City Cinema closed on August 14 1994. The final movies shown were: When a Man Loves a Woman, The Crow and Reality Bites. The City Cinema reopened for 1994 the September School Holidays, the cinema reopened for these holidays on September 16 1994. Movies shown during September 16 – October 2 were: The Flintstones and True Lies. The cinema then closed again on October 2 1994 .

The City Cinema in Gordon Street became the Current theatre complex in 1994 and was renamed the Mackay 5 Cinema’s. The current theatre complex was officially opened by then Member for Mackay Edmund Casey on December 14 1994. Movie shown on the official opening day of the current theatre complex was: Forest Gump .The theatre was opened to the public on December 15 1994. Opening movies on December 15 were: The Mask, Forest Gump, The Lion King, Miracle On 34th street, The Santa Clause, The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Muriel’s Wedding.