Seating capacity: 680
Address: Yi Chun Street, Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The building remains standing today. After the theatre was closed, it became a restaurant which was later replaced by shops. The current site is called East Garden Plaza.
From looking at Google maps, the main road that connects the town to the rest of the New Territories is Clear Water Bay Road (now multi-lanes) and the same road (but 2 lanes) that I walked to Good Hope School many years ago. Then, I encountered at most five vehicles in the stretch of road near Kai Tak early morning, and slightly more on the way downhill after class. The theatre must have been a very popular place given the town's remoteness. Today, the street outside the building is filled with mini-buses.
Sai Kung Theatre started operating on September 26, 1958 and was closed in about 1979*.
*Revised from 1975 to 1979 as per David's comments.
Sources:
- http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/25360
- Hong Kong Theatres Association Limited: http://www.hktaorg.com/cinema.html
- Wikipedia's list of theatres no longer operating: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E5%B7%B2%E7%B5%90%E6%…
Photos that show this Place
Comments
The Sai Kung cinema is still
The Sai Kung cinema is still shown in a list of cinemas in a 1979 map book, so it may have stayed open a bit later than the mid-70s.
Sai Kung Theatre
Thanks Bill for the early photo of the cinema, and David for refining its operating period. Now I know it was at one time by the water, like so many other buildings. Regards, Peter
Location
The cinema is here, still the same building with the old harbour wall between it and the Tin Hau temple:
http://hk.centamap.com/gc/centamaplocation.aspx?x=846019&y=826808&sx=84…
Hence the name of the new restaurant The Picture House
re: Location
Thanks Guy, I've moved the marker across the road to the correct building.
Streetview shows that the square tower on the corner is still there, though now hidden behind some curved decoration.