Plans announced in August 2018 to demolish the building and replace it with 25 flats and retail. The amusement arcade has closed and the snooker upstairs would be lost. Owner Mark Woolls said the walls were too thick to convert the existing 1890 building. A time capsule photo of staircase added.
An undated auctioneers describes a freehold ex Bingo Hall for development. Approx 320 seats on ground and first floor. Site frontage 64 ft, Built frontage 55 ft and built depth 104 ft.
Visiting the hospital in Ashford, KENT, I noticed two framed cinema photos in the restaurant. One is of the Odeon, but the other of the Astoria is in the wrong town! I hoped to upload but CT is patchy on accepting photos.
In 2017 the building was occupied and became the Sri Swame Dhurgai Amman mandir, or Hindu temple. No external notices welcoming visitors, but perhaps this may change.
Another possible first is the the developers hired a drone company to fly both outside and inside the building in a partly built state so that we could see film of the construction in some detail.
The Kentish Express for 8th March 2018 reports that a steady decline in business has caused Mecca to announce termination of the lease, and the newspaper says the building has been sold to Ashford Borough Council as a key town centre site. Demolition to improve the vista of Ashford Church is one option, with the frontage retained.
The Cineworld was to open on February 2nd, but delays in connecting the site to the national grid have held the whole site up. However the cinema is the first business to open.
The Crown Prince plans to permit cinemas after a gap of over 35 years, the first to open in March, 2018. Cinemas are seen as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.
My first job as a professional librarian was pasting in replacement adverts for horror films in Croydon, cut out of the local paper. I have an example from the Eros but sadly CT cannot accept the format.
Despite a petition to Cannon Classic to save this cinema not being successful, the support made out a case for equipping the Thanet DC’s Granville theatre with a screen and projector from 1986.
The auditorium still stands – see photo and was last used by Legends nightclub. The entrance in New Street is between Dover Heritage Taxis to the right and Wetherspoons exit to the left. Tne L-Shaped pub used part of the premises, but the gutted auditorium has been
up for sale since at least 2013.
According to Leeds Industrial Museum, their 1920s replica cinema (27 seats and benches) contains furnishings from this cinema. The museum in the Armley Woollen Mills is a short bus ride out from stop S7 at Leeds station
200 people crammed into the Astor theatre for a lively meeting about the Regent, held by the Dover DC Scrutiny Ctee. A passionate debate was held, as locals are angry re the 6 year delay. Plans for a 4 screen cinema are promised for Sept 2017. Ctee to investigate how the Council ever came to own this building and whether the ineffective covenant can be revised.
An exterior photo is held in the Buckinghamshire Record Office cinema photos collection
Plans announced in August 2018 to demolish the building and replace it with 25 flats and retail. The amusement arcade has closed and the snooker upstairs would be lost. Owner Mark Woolls said the walls were too thick to convert the existing 1890 building. A time capsule photo of staircase added.
I now discover the auction catalogue was dated March, 1989 and has an exterior photo of the Rex.
The Dover Express for 28th June reported the Cineworld had 35,000 customers since opening, which means about 2,300 a week.
An undated auctioneers describes a freehold ex Bingo Hall for development. Approx 320 seats on ground and first floor. Site frontage 64 ft, Built frontage 55 ft and built depth 104 ft.
Apparently the cinema was bought by vintner Moray Tawse and is slowly being made ready fir re-opening, maybe at the end of this year Source: Facebook.
The framed photo in wrong hospital is now displaying.
Visiting the hospital in Ashford, KENT, I noticed two framed cinema photos in the restaurant. One is of the Odeon, but the other of the Astoria is in the wrong town! I hoped to upload but CT is patchy on accepting photos.
In 2017 the building was occupied and became the Sri Swame Dhurgai Amman mandir, or Hindu temple. No external notices welcoming visitors, but perhaps this may change.
Another possible first is the the developers hired a drone company to fly both outside and inside the building in a partly built state so that we could see film of the construction in some detail.
The Kentish Express for 8th March 2018 reports that a steady decline in business has caused Mecca to announce termination of the lease, and the newspaper says the building has been sold to Ashford Borough Council as a key town centre site. Demolition to improve the vista of Ashford Church is one option, with the frontage retained.
The Cineworld was to open on February 2nd, but delays in connecting the site to the national grid have held the whole site up. However the cinema is the first business to open.
Both Bingo hall and cinema closed “until further notice” after New years flooding in 2018.
The Cinema de Lux now has 17 screens, according to press advertising in December, 2017.
The Crown Prince plans to permit cinemas after a gap of over 35 years, the first to open in March, 2018. Cinemas are seen as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.
My first job as a professional librarian was pasting in replacement adverts for horror films in Croydon, cut out of the local paper. I have an example from the Eros but sadly CT cannot accept the format.
Despite a petition to Cannon Classic to save this cinema not being successful, the support made out a case for equipping the Thanet DC’s Granville theatre with a screen and projector from 1986.
The Snooker ended by 2015 and the building has been altered to suit a shop known as China Chaps. Not a Chinese restaurant but pottery!
Brian Hornsey, the prolific cinema book author, was the projectionist here when it closed, according to his daughter Liz Paige.
The auditorium still stands – see photo and was last used by Legends nightclub. The entrance in New Street is between Dover Heritage Taxis to the right and Wetherspoons exit to the left. Tne L-Shaped pub used part of the premises, but the gutted auditorium has been up for sale since at least 2013.
According to Leeds Industrial Museum, their 1920s replica cinema (27 seats and benches) contains furnishings from this cinema. The museum in the Armley Woollen Mills is a short bus ride out from stop S7 at Leeds station
Rileys closed venues from 2014 after being in administration. It is not clear how long this club survived but it currently boarded up (Sept 2017)
Blyth library have an 1938 opening programme on file.
I passed this obviously ex cinema today (6/9/17) on a bus to Morpeth. It is still the Paramount health and Fitness Club!
200 people crammed into the Astor theatre for a lively meeting about the Regent, held by the Dover DC Scrutiny Ctee. A passionate debate was held, as locals are angry re the 6 year delay. Plans for a 4 screen cinema are promised for Sept 2017. Ctee to investigate how the Council ever came to own this building and whether the ineffective covenant can be revised.