Declared open at a ribbon cutting ceremony by Eastenders star Anita Dobson on 20th July, 1989. Special guests were treated to a performance by musicians called Fingers & Frets and saw a preview of the film Lethal Weapon II starring Mel Gibson almost two months before the film was released, followed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
A second screen also showed this film, the other three remaining screens opening with The Land Before Time, Licence to Thrill and finally Police Academy 6.
Opened as the Picturedrome, address was 44 High Street, NN9 5TN. Name changed to Picture House when the facade was given a modernisation as per my pictures that I uploaded.
After being left in a perilous state (no pun intended) by Wetherspoons, and after being sold on by them, the lack of a secure dry building has finally meant that Thurrock Council have issued an enforcement order on the new owner to secure the building. It has been known for stalls exit doors to have been left wide open recently, with Urban Explorers not helping with a string of videos being posted online as well, proving as to how unsecured the building was.
Fingers crossed, this lengthy saga will come to a good ending…..
Announced today that Omniplex are to tr=open the complex after agreeing a lease with the Council owners. Refurbishment prior to opening will take up to 18 months though! Omniplex Cinemas Group is an Ireland based operator with the director being Paul John Anderson. There will be 12 screens as before, with up to 30 jobs created once opened again.
On the hour Father Time would rise out of a globe on his bicycle. Comedian Ken Dodd was the VIP asked to open the centre on October 30, 1987, but the crowds were so large - estimated at several thousand - that he was unable to get to the clock in time and up popped Father Time without him. The centre was further expanded, with the section built over the former cinema’s site. The cinema had been demolished shortly after closure in 1990.
Closure as a Gala bingo club came in February 2008 according to staff member Angeline Jenkins via a message on Facebook. She worked there until the end and states that it was a very sad day for all the staff.
Plans approved on proviso that the cinema and 2 lock-up shops were completed within 3 years, client named as Magnet Cinema (Newton Heath) Ltd., 1350 seats, stadium plan, references: Builder 19/11/1937.
1929 rebuild to plans by Ernest Ogden, client named as O & G Dewhurst. Reconstruction of existing cinema. The King George V was opened in 1912 with 700 seats. Closed 1929 and replaced by the Plaza Cinema on the same site.
Reference Builder 1 March 1929 page 451, hopefully, this helps explain things a bit!
The following description appeared in Builder dated 19/06/1936:
Restrained brick exterior, a design stripped of all historical decoration. Circular staircase tower of brick with glass blocks. Banded brickwork with Art Deco patterning above entrance. The proscenium broke new ground by dispensing with stage curtains and introducing a screen intended to ‘float’ on a blue background.
Detailed Listing description, the Listing application was refused: A much-altered former Public Hall and Assembly Rooms of two and three storeys with Queen Anne features and elevations on St George’s Road, Garden Street and St George’s Lane, that opened in 1900 and was built to a design by John Dent Harker. It is rectangular in plan and is constructed of brick with orange moulded terracotta embellishments beneath flat and pitched slate roofs. By 1910 the building had become a cinema and alterations to the interior layout took place in 1925 after it was bought by the Blackpool Tower Company and became the Palace Cinema and Restaurant, complete with ballroom, restaurant, cafe, assembly room, Masonic room, billiard room and shops on the ground floor fronting Garden Street. At an unspecified date in the inter-war years part of the building fronting St George’s Road was converted into a car showroom. Part of the building continued as a cinema until 1957 when it was sold to Lytham St Anne’s freemasons. A mezzanine floor was added in the former cinema to create rooms on a new upper floor for the freemasons. Elsewhere a freemason’s boardroom was built on part of the flat roof, a Steward’s flat was created out of what are thought to have been former dressing rooms, the former ballroom was converted into a Masonic Lodge Room, the former billiard room in the basement had its ceiling lowered and all fixtures and fittings removed, the former car showroom was converted into a furniture retailers, the main staircase was moved to allow insertion of a lift shaft, and a large part of the ground floor was lowered and a covered market hall created. Externally a glass and iron canopy was added in the 1980s.
The St George’s Road elevation is of two storeys with nine bays. The slightly projecting central bay comprises the entrance to the former Public Hall with a fanlight and classical surround, above which is a canted casement bay window with glazing bars to the upper floor. Flanking the central bay are windows of round-arched mullion and transom windows to both floors above which is a brick and terracotta parapet topped by cast iron railings. The three bays to the left comprise a blocked former entrance with a classical surround that is flanked by modern shop entrances inserted over the inter-war car showroom doorways. Rectangular windows with glazing bars are on the upper floors with their surrounds carried upward to form part of the parapet with railings between. The three bays to the right of the former Public Hall entrance comprise a modern shop front to the ground floor beneath a modern glass and iron canopy that is carried around the corner and along the full length of the Garden Street elevation. The upper floor has two rectangular windows of similar design to those to the left of the former Public Hall entrance, between which is an ornamental downspout executed in terracotta. Rising above the recessed shop entrance is a corner turret topped by a lantern and cupola. The Garden Street elevation has shop fronts to the ground floor either side of an entrance to the Masonic rooms. The upper floor is of two and three storeys with a five-bay two-storey part to the left and a three-storey gable to the right. A canted bay window matching that on the St George’s Road elevation forms the central of the five bays with a pediment containing a keyed oculus above. To either side of the bay window there is a pair of rectangular windows beneath moulded pediments. The gable has a centrally-placed arrangement of narrow round-arched windows set within a terracotta surround. Those to the first floor form two levels of small round arched windows with the upper of the two levels now blocked. The gable has been truncated and has a crow-stepped finish. The St George’s Lane elevation is relatively plain. A shop front and some terracotta is carried around the corner from the Garden Street elevation. Elsewhere there are exits and fire exits to the ground floor, four lunette brick-arched windows with later rectangular windows inserted into three of them, and a scattering of other windows.
A basement, formerly containing a billiard room, exists below part of the building. At ground floor level much of the building is given over to retail space with shops, a market hall at reduced ground floor level, and a cafe. There is no trace of original historic fabric. The former Public Hall and cinema space has been divided both horizontally and vertically and the original ceiling with its hammer beam trusses remains partly exposed. A new staircase inserted in the 1950s leads from the Garden Street entrance to the first floor where there are kitchens and a Freemason’s Dining Room. Also on this floor there is a truncated Lodge Room, with a shallow vaulted ceiling and plasterwork decoration executed in the 1950s and redecorated in the 1980s. Outside the Lodge Room there are candidate’s waiting rooms and a lobby executed in classical decoration in the 1950s. The upper floor contains a converted Steward’s flat, a modern small Freemason’s boardroom, storage accommodation and disused toilets dating from the early 20th century.
Is this opening date correct? The Bioscope dated 27 February 1913 refers to this cinema by this architect. Certainly the design and decor seem earlier than the 1930’s…
This building is nowhere on Cheltenham Mount! Correct location is Cheltenham Parade at the corner of Mount Parade, HG1 1BX.
The new business is known as Cardamom Black @ “The Old Empire Theatre”.
Declared open at a ribbon cutting ceremony by Eastenders star Anita Dobson on 20th July, 1989. Special guests were treated to a performance by musicians called Fingers & Frets and saw a preview of the film Lethal Weapon II starring Mel Gibson almost two months before the film was released, followed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
A second screen also showed this film, the other three remaining screens opening with The Land Before Time, Licence to Thrill and finally Police Academy 6.
Opened as the Picturedrome, address was 44 High Street, NN9 5TN. Name changed to Picture House when the facade was given a modernisation as per my pictures that I uploaded.
The architect was Joseph Gannon, the new cinema was designed in 1935, opening in 1936.
After being left in a perilous state (no pun intended) by Wetherspoons, and after being sold on by them, the lack of a secure dry building has finally meant that Thurrock Council have issued an enforcement order on the new owner to secure the building. It has been known for stalls exit doors to have been left wide open recently, with Urban Explorers not helping with a string of videos being posted online as well, proving as to how unsecured the building was. Fingers crossed, this lengthy saga will come to a good ending…..
Announced today that Omniplex are to tr=open the complex after agreeing a lease with the Council owners. Refurbishment prior to opening will take up to 18 months though! Omniplex Cinemas Group is an Ireland based operator with the director being Paul John Anderson. There will be 12 screens as before, with up to 30 jobs created once opened again.
On the hour Father Time would rise out of a globe on his bicycle. Comedian Ken Dodd was the VIP asked to open the centre on October 30, 1987, but the crowds were so large - estimated at several thousand - that he was unable to get to the clock in time and up popped Father Time without him. The centre was further expanded, with the section built over the former cinema’s site. The cinema had been demolished shortly after closure in 1990.
CMA operated this cinema upon closure.
Closed in 2020, and still ‘Permanently Closed’ in 2024, it should not be showing as ‘open’ on here…
Now operated by the Stag Community Arts Centre, a registered charity.
Closure as a Gala bingo club came in February 2008 according to staff member Angeline Jenkins via a message on Facebook. She worked there until the end and states that it was a very sad day for all the staff.
Still showing films according to the 1966 KYB on Thursdays and Saturdays only.
The former Miner’s Institute building located at 69 Newport Road was known as the Cinema. This still stands and is in use as an OAP Centre.
Opened for Messrs Moston and Lightbowne, who operated the earlier Ceylon in the area.
Plans approved on proviso that the cinema and 2 lock-up shops were completed within 3 years, client named as Magnet Cinema (Newton Heath) Ltd., 1350 seats, stadium plan, references: Builder 19/11/1937.
Postcode is M14 5LQ, conversion to a cinema was done for the Platt Picturedrome Company in 1912.
1929 rebuild to plans by Ernest Ogden, client named as O & G Dewhurst. Reconstruction of existing cinema. The King George V was opened in 1912 with 700 seats. Closed 1929 and replaced by the Plaza Cinema on the same site. Reference Builder 1 March 1929 page 451, hopefully, this helps explain things a bit!
Opened by the The Preston Palladium Cinema Co. circuit.
The following description appeared in Builder dated 19/06/1936:
Restrained brick exterior, a design stripped of all historical decoration. Circular staircase tower of brick with glass blocks. Banded brickwork with Art Deco patterning above entrance. The proscenium broke new ground by dispensing with stage curtains and introducing a screen intended to ‘float’ on a blue background.
The cinema’s License was refused for renewal in June, 1938. It was then sold to Brennan’s Cinema circuit.
The architect designed the cinema for a company called Associated British Properties.
Opened for Pavilion (Rochdale) Ltd. circuit.
Detailed Listing description, the Listing application was refused: A much-altered former Public Hall and Assembly Rooms of two and three storeys with Queen Anne features and elevations on St George’s Road, Garden Street and St George’s Lane, that opened in 1900 and was built to a design by John Dent Harker. It is rectangular in plan and is constructed of brick with orange moulded terracotta embellishments beneath flat and pitched slate roofs. By 1910 the building had become a cinema and alterations to the interior layout took place in 1925 after it was bought by the Blackpool Tower Company and became the Palace Cinema and Restaurant, complete with ballroom, restaurant, cafe, assembly room, Masonic room, billiard room and shops on the ground floor fronting Garden Street. At an unspecified date in the inter-war years part of the building fronting St George’s Road was converted into a car showroom. Part of the building continued as a cinema until 1957 when it was sold to Lytham St Anne’s freemasons. A mezzanine floor was added in the former cinema to create rooms on a new upper floor for the freemasons. Elsewhere a freemason’s boardroom was built on part of the flat roof, a Steward’s flat was created out of what are thought to have been former dressing rooms, the former ballroom was converted into a Masonic Lodge Room, the former billiard room in the basement had its ceiling lowered and all fixtures and fittings removed, the former car showroom was converted into a furniture retailers, the main staircase was moved to allow insertion of a lift shaft, and a large part of the ground floor was lowered and a covered market hall created. Externally a glass and iron canopy was added in the 1980s.
The St George’s Road elevation is of two storeys with nine bays. The slightly projecting central bay comprises the entrance to the former Public Hall with a fanlight and classical surround, above which is a canted casement bay window with glazing bars to the upper floor. Flanking the central bay are windows of round-arched mullion and transom windows to both floors above which is a brick and terracotta parapet topped by cast iron railings. The three bays to the left comprise a blocked former entrance with a classical surround that is flanked by modern shop entrances inserted over the inter-war car showroom doorways. Rectangular windows with glazing bars are on the upper floors with their surrounds carried upward to form part of the parapet with railings between. The three bays to the right of the former Public Hall entrance comprise a modern shop front to the ground floor beneath a modern glass and iron canopy that is carried around the corner and along the full length of the Garden Street elevation. The upper floor has two rectangular windows of similar design to those to the left of the former Public Hall entrance, between which is an ornamental downspout executed in terracotta. Rising above the recessed shop entrance is a corner turret topped by a lantern and cupola. The Garden Street elevation has shop fronts to the ground floor either side of an entrance to the Masonic rooms. The upper floor is of two and three storeys with a five-bay two-storey part to the left and a three-storey gable to the right. A canted bay window matching that on the St George’s Road elevation forms the central of the five bays with a pediment containing a keyed oculus above. To either side of the bay window there is a pair of rectangular windows beneath moulded pediments. The gable has a centrally-placed arrangement of narrow round-arched windows set within a terracotta surround. Those to the first floor form two levels of small round arched windows with the upper of the two levels now blocked. The gable has been truncated and has a crow-stepped finish. The St George’s Lane elevation is relatively plain. A shop front and some terracotta is carried around the corner from the Garden Street elevation. Elsewhere there are exits and fire exits to the ground floor, four lunette brick-arched windows with later rectangular windows inserted into three of them, and a scattering of other windows.
A basement, formerly containing a billiard room, exists below part of the building. At ground floor level much of the building is given over to retail space with shops, a market hall at reduced ground floor level, and a cafe. There is no trace of original historic fabric. The former Public Hall and cinema space has been divided both horizontally and vertically and the original ceiling with its hammer beam trusses remains partly exposed. A new staircase inserted in the 1950s leads from the Garden Street entrance to the first floor where there are kitchens and a Freemason’s Dining Room. Also on this floor there is a truncated Lodge Room, with a shallow vaulted ceiling and plasterwork decoration executed in the 1950s and redecorated in the 1980s. Outside the Lodge Room there are candidate’s waiting rooms and a lobby executed in classical decoration in the 1950s. The upper floor contains a converted Steward’s flat, a modern small Freemason’s boardroom, storage accommodation and disused toilets dating from the early 20th century.
Listing application rejected.
Reference Pastscape
After Star Bingo, the club became EMI Bingo then Coral Bingo and lastly Gala Bingo before final closure in 1999 and demolition.
Is this opening date correct? The Bioscope dated 27 February 1913 refers to this cinema by this architect. Certainly the design and decor seem earlier than the 1930’s…