The Rialto will shortly be rebranded from a Hard Rock Casino into a ‘G Casino’, following Rank’s sale of its Hard Rock Cafe division.
If you go to: http://www.hardrock.com/casinos/tour360/london.asp
You can view several interior tours of the casino. Much of the original ornate ceiling and plasterwork appears to be intact, as does the circle.
Trivia Note: The Galaxy was built on the site of the Garden Court Apartments, a luxurious complex constructed in 1916. Suites came furnished with Oriental carpets, baby grand pianos, oil paintings and famous Hollywood names such as Mack Sennett, Louis B. Mayer, Lillian Gish and John Barrymore took up residence. The glory years ended in the 1950s, however, and after a few decades of decline, the building was completely abandoned in the early 1980s and became a derelict wreck known as ‘Hotel Hell’, an unoffical gathering place for runaways and gang members. It was eventually demolished in 1984/5.
Photos of the Garden Court Apartments and an interesting account from someone who lived there in the 1970s can be found at the following website:
Rather than becoming a ‘Chicago Rock cafe’, I hear that the Rialto will actually reopen in November 2002 as a Hard Rock Casino, with owners Rank Group spending a considerable amount of money on the conversion to a casino.
The Rialto will shortly be rebranded from a Hard Rock Casino into a ‘G Casino’, following Rank’s sale of its Hard Rock Cafe division.
If you go to:
http://www.hardrock.com/casinos/tour360/london.asp
You can view several interior tours of the casino. Much of the original ornate ceiling and plasterwork appears to be intact, as does the circle.
The end has come, sadly:
View link
Nice quote they left on the canopy, though.
A November 2005 photo of the Chester Odeon can be seen here:
View link
Trivia Note: The Galaxy was built on the site of the Garden Court Apartments, a luxurious complex constructed in 1916. Suites came furnished with Oriental carpets, baby grand pianos, oil paintings and famous Hollywood names such as Mack Sennett, Louis B. Mayer, Lillian Gish and John Barrymore took up residence. The glory years ended in the 1950s, however, and after a few decades of decline, the building was completely abandoned in the early 1980s and became a derelict wreck known as ‘Hotel Hell’, an unoffical gathering place for runaways and gang members. It was eventually demolished in 1984/5.
Photos of the Garden Court Apartments and an interesting account from someone who lived there in the 1970s can be found at the following website:
http://www.geocities.com/welkerlots/garden.htm
Dave
Rather than becoming a ‘Chicago Rock cafe’, I hear that the Rialto will actually reopen in November 2002 as a Hard Rock Casino, with owners Rank Group spending a considerable amount of money on the conversion to a casino.