Gaiety Picture House

17 Tangier Street,
Whitehaven, CA28 7UZ

Unfavorite 1 person favorited this theater

Additional Info

Functions: Bingo Hall, Movies (First Run)

Styles: Greek Revival

Nearby Theaters

Gaiety Picture House

The Gaiety Picture House opened on 15th April 1922 with 1,480 seats and was one of three cinemas in Whitehaven. It is now the only survivor (the Queens Cinema and the Empire Theatre having bitten the dust).

The style of the cinema - 1,030 seats in the stalls and 450 in the single balcony - was Greek and it had an elaborate fluted barrel-vaulted roof.

It was split into 2 horizontally in 1980 with the circle, which retains its original plasterwork, becoming a 264-seat cinema. The stalls were transformed into a bingo hall. The cinema section closed with “Pirates of the Caribbean” in 2003, leaving the bingo operation in the former stalls to continue to operate successfully. The cinema section was re-opened 24th October 2015.

Contributed by Ian Grundy

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

Ian
Ian on February 26, 2004 at 9:53 am

Sadly this fine cinema (a single screen) closed in 2003 due to competition from a small multiplex. The bingo operation continues in the stalls area so in the short term the cinema will be structurally maintained but the long term is now far less secure for this small town gem.

Ian
Ian on May 29, 2007 at 3:59 am

Exterior photo here:–

View link

Chemalino1_
Chemalino1_ on October 28, 2015 at 3:52 am

This cinema reopened last weekend! 24/10/2015👍👍👍

popcorn_pete
popcorn_pete on May 8, 2024 at 6:33 am

Some interesting shots of the Gaiety at: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/gaiety-cinema-whitehaven-nov-2009-report.44916/

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.