Gaiety Cinema

Located in the Anderston district in the west of the city centre. The building was originally built as a warehouse. It became a Salvation Army barracks and in 1893 was converted into the People’s Palace music hall. It had 1,200-seats in orchestra and two balconies with side slips and boxes. It became the Tivoli Theatre on 2nd January 1899 with Charles Coburn appearing as the ‘top of the bill’. It was closed in 1904 to be extensively rebuilt to the plans of the original architect James Thomson of architectural firm Baird & Thomson and reopened on 28th December 1904 with 2,000-seats. It was a great success, but audiences soon began to favour the cheaper admission prices offered by cinemas, and it was converted into a cinema and renamed Gaiety Theatre on 19th December 1909. It was operated by J.J. Bennell’s BB Pictures Ltd. when it featured variety acts on the stage and films as part of the programming. In July 1928 it was sold to Anderston Pictures and Varieties Ltd. It was rebuilt in April 1935 to the plans of architect Charles J. McNair and was taken over by the A.B. King circuit. The seating capacity was reduced to 1,403-seats when the 2nd balcony was closed off.

The main concert hall in Glasgow was St. Andrews Hall which was owned and operated by Glasgow City Council. Located on Granville Street in the Charing Cross district it had been built in 1877 and operated for 85 years, until it was destroyed by a fire, started by a smouldering cigarette following a boxing match tournament on 25th October 1962.

The City Council urgently needed a venue to take over from the St. Andrews Hall, and they commandered the Gaiety Cinema, giving it a facelift. It opened as the Glasgow Concert Hall in January 1963 with a concert of children’s classics performed by the Scottish National Orchestra. This continued with many world famous artists appearing here. It was closed on 31st July 1968 and it was demolished soon after due to redevelopment in the Anderston district which involved a new motorway system that was built on the site of the cinema.

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