The l06-year-old brass electrolier - a chandelier designed to take electric light bulbs - has spent the past three decades in the foyer of the Southwards Car Museum in Paraparaumu, near Wellington.
But before that, it had been hanging in His Majesty's Theatre (now Sammy's) in Dunedin since it opened in 1903.
Mayfair Theatre manager Bruce Collier said the 150kg Dunedin-made electrolier was sold when His Majesty's Theatre closed in 1973 and the important piece of local theatrical heritage was sent to the North Island.
However, it was recently donated to the Mayfair Theatre Trust and transported back to Dunedin because it became "surplus to museum requirements", he said.
"It was sitting in the foyer of the Southwards Car Museum in Paraparaumu and there used to be a gallery with a cafe in it. The kids used to flick tea bags on to it for fun, so the managers took it down and left it in a storage area for about three or four years."
While it took plenty of time and elbow grease to clean it, Mr Collier said the electrolier was much more in keeping with the Mayfair Theatre than the previous 5kg plastic electrolier which formerly graced the theatre's ceiling.
A grant from the ACE Shacklock Charitable Trust helped to pay for a suitable industrial-rated mounting point for the electrolier in the auditorium, and the refurbishment and rewiring of the light fitting, he said.
The installation of the "new-old" electrolier marked the completion of the first stage of the theatre's multimillion-dollar redevelopment.
Mr Collier said stages two and three included $700,000 worth of improvements to the function room, refurbishment of the foyer, weather proofing the exterior of the theatre and improving access to the stage area.
It was hoped work on those stages would begin soon.
