The Mildura Brewery had a former life as the Astor Theatre, which was once the most popular cinema in town. Opening in 1925 as the Paramount Picture Theatre, but known amongst the local community as the Wonderland, the site was fully remodelled and renamed the Astor Theatre with a grand opening in 1937. With a seating capacity of 914, the new improved theatre was described in the local newspaper as “palatial” and “the most outstanding of its type in provincial Victoria.”
The Astor enjoyed success in a very competitive local environment with a number of open-air and hard-top theatres throughout the district. With the advent of television to Mildura in 1965, the Astor saw a decline in patronage and was eventually closed in 1967 and sold to the Grand Hotel. The Mildura Grand Hotel was purchased in 1989 by Don Carrazza and his family. The old Astor site continued to be used as a car park, laundry and general workshop for the hotel, while its street front shops were leased to local retailers. Don Carrazza had a clear vision for the building, and after much planning, the Mildura Brewery was opened in December 2004 by Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson. To honour the glory of the former Astor Theatre, the Brewery has retained design elements from the original building.
