Vacoas - The Metro Cinema - late 1940s

Metro Cinema in Vacoas – 1940s/50s – John Kennedy Avenue

Vacoas of the time looks to be a more animated town than the actual Vacoas. During the 1950s – 1980s, the town had 3 Cinemas, but now none. The METRO cinema in Vacoas was located right in the town centre (here) and was a very famous cinema of its time. During those years very few people had television sets and cinemas were the better choice to watch movies and find some entertainment. Cinemas were completely different then; sometimes a single access would grant viewers with up to 3 consecutive movies, and mind you, they weren’t those ‘1h30’ movies, but full 3 hours movies.

The Metro Cinema was the property of the Moosun family and they had 2 other Cinemas, namely, Modern Cinema and Milan Cinema. Not too far from the Metro Cinema was also the Savoy Cinema, and the Modern Cinema was located near Visitation in Vacoas (or Solferino for some). The cinema being now non-existant, the area somehow still bears the name of ‘Modern Square’.

While in the above picture we will certainly notice two different lifestyles; those wealthy people and those ‘modeste’ families, most of us will certainly agree that even those differences people lived a pleasant life without any stress. Notice those children standing barefoot at the porch of the Cinema building. And that pre-war American Car, the Chrysler Royal Touring of 1938 was certainly among a pleasant eye-sight as well. As of today, the Metro Cinema building no longer exists, pulled down sometimes in 2011 and at the time of writing we don’t know yet what will occupy the current empty space. Below we also have the Savoy Cinema during the 1970s.

Vacoas Savoy Junction Mauritius Esso Filling

Vacoas Savoy Junction – Savoy Cinema – Mauritius Esso Filling – 1970s

And today this is what this spot looks like. Next to the old Cinema Metro was also the Cafe Metro, a small snack shop and newspaper seller that became famous because of the Cinema as well. The empty space we can see on the right of the image below is where the old cinema stood.