Wotton St, Wiluna

AMBASSADORS AND GARDENS

Nelsons, who had begun so successfully in the goldfields further south, built the Ambassadors Theatre early in 1931 on the west side of Wotton St, between Wall and Derwent Sts. It had a capacity of 550, and a design similar to their Palace Theatre in Boulder. A gardens accommodating 1000 was added next door later in the year.

In June 1933, the miners decided on a ´beer and pictures strike', boycotting both. For three weeks, the theatre seems to have been closed, and this may have contributed to Nelson's willingness to sell. In 1933 W.R.Clemenger's Goldfields Pictures bought the whole of the Nelson circuit, in Kalgoorlie and Boulder as well as in Wiluna. In the thirties pictures were screened six nights each week, with three changes of programme.

Goldfields operated the Ambassadors till 1945, when they sold it to the local community. The policy continued of switching from the gardens to the theatre in May and back to the gardens in September each year, with two programme changes each week and reservations available at the Miners Office. 16mm pictures continued to be shown in the gardens, even after the theatre was closed and the iron building sold to the YMCA, who transported it to Kalgoorlie. After the mine closed, and the population of the town was decimated, regular screenings ceased.

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