Quoting from a usenet post:

Well...

You don't really want to know the entire etymology of this; but I think it's the Romance languages which retain the -re or -ro spelling of the Latin ("theatrum", "centrum"), whereas the Germanic languages drop the ending (-o, -um) and often reverse the consonant-vowl-sequence in writing as well as in pronunciation. (cf. German "Theater"). In English, theatre of course is pronounced _as if_ it ended in -er, and the American way of spelling these words merely reflects their pronunciation. "Theater" seems to be less common, though, than "center" or "meter"; perhaps because the word has all kinds of high-cultural connotations and the owners wish to retain a kind of old-worldly feel.

Best,

Holger (not -re...)

Holger Schott

Department of English and American Literature and Language
Harvard University

You can read the entire thread CLICK HERE It is quite interesting.

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