Help us raise the funds to bring the Flicks back to the Theatre Royal, Raetihi

The Royal Theatre, Raetihi was built in 1915 by Mr. John Punch, a renowned saw mill owner of the town. As the region was a 'dry" region at the time he needed something to entertain his workers and their families.

Designed by Whanganui Architect Mr. Thomas Battle it was designed and built to give the town the best complex possible.

Built to show the new 'flickers" as movies were first described, it played the latest movies and news reels to keep people entertained and informed.

It was a very popular place and became the centre of the town with the people gathering for up to an hour prior to the 'showing" to share stories and gossip of the day

We are in a program of repair and develop and have now installed a large 7.25 x 3.5 metre screen and a modern projector to lbring back the movies, after the theatre closed as a cinema in 1995.

We now hold movie events of those wonder golden movies of yester year, having shown Dr. Zhivago, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly along with holding two world premieres of documentary style movies about the Waimarino and Whanganui area.

The installation of the screen and projector are the first steps in truly bringing back the movies.

The development stage now requires the building to have extensive further repairs and upgrade.

We have already raised funds to repair the leaking roof, reinstate the damaged gents toilets, rebuild the rotting stairs, repair the front and paint it along with parts of the inside.