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Closure of former Gaumont Palace, Cheltenham, UK
posted by
iwrotethis
on
November 9, 2006 at 4:55 am
CHELTENHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK — The former Gaumont Palace cinema, latterly the Odeon Cheltenham, closed down permanently on 5th November 2006.
The cinema opened in 1933 and had a long history of live music performances as well as film. In the 1970’s, as with most Odeons, the single auditorium was triplexed and subsequently awkwardly sub-divided still further into seven screens.
Despite this, it struggled to remain competitive and, in the wake of the opening of the nearby Cineworld multiplex, staff were given just thirty days to revive its fortunes or face closure.
The messy subdivision, its prime location, and the fact that it has lost most of its original architectural features, including the “fin” on the front elevation and all interior decor, must surely place the building itself in some jeopardy at this point.
In 2005, this cinema hit the regional news when management discovered that a homeless person had been living, apparently for some weeks, in the void behind one of the screens.
Comments (2)
I guess there is another homeless person (the ex-manager) living behind the screen, now
I write as a member of a consultancy group, who on behalf of our client have carried out a feasibilty study on the future use of this building . Our proposal is to provide a high quality entertainment venue to include casino, resturant, live entertainment etc. A full survey was completed, many of the original features are still intact, once renovated the building would be returned to its former glory. I am submiting this idea to gauge public opinion and hope to receive feedback for this project, comments please.