Australian cities and many older buildings, then considered passé, were demolished in an attempt to "modernise" the city centre–this move, considered a "self-conscious" attempt to impress international visitors, would attract much criticism in later decades. The result was that the theatre had to close. Almost immediately there was a campaign waged to 'save the Capitol' by the National Trust and a group of prominent architects notably Robin Boyd. A compromise was soon reached: after closing for extensive renovations on 17 November 1963, the street foyer and stalls area were demolished to make way for a shopping arcade, now known as the Capitol Arcade, whilst retaining the ceiling and upper half of the auditorium to create a single-level cinema seating 600. The stage was raised within the proscenium by about 6m, with the balcony seating extended down to this new level, and a new foyer created above the arcade, under a void that was part of the dress circle foyers which originally opened to the rear stalls. The dress circle foyers were retained but subdivided off and given over to new uses. The Wurlitzer organ was removed and relocated to the Dendy Cinema in Brighton in 1967. The reconfigured Capitol Theatre reopened on 16 December 1965 under the control of Village Cinemas. The opening film after the renovation was The Great Race, which had a run of two years. Other long running engagements over the years included the films Ryan's Daughter (1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), A Star Is Born (1976) and Superman: The Movie in 1978. With the opening of the Village Cinema Centre in nearby Bourke Street in 1988, Village relinquished their lease. Through the 1990s the cinema was in use by sporadically for films festivals, art house screenings, and Chinese and Indian language films. Recent history In 1998 Melbourne city council hired Melbourne architecture firm 'Six Degrees’ to undertake a study that would explore the possibility for the theatre to be used as a festival and arts based centre. In 1999, RMIT University acquired the space in part to preserve the heritage of the building, but also to use it as a large CBD-based lecture theatre. They elected to keep ‘Six Degrees’ as the project architects, and conservation architect Michael Taylor. Their purchase included the blocked off dress circle lobbies as well as the main auditorium and the 1960s foyer, and the renovation plans sought to re-connect all