ABC Westover Bournemouth
27 Westover Road,
Bournemouth,
BH1 2BZ
27 Westover Road,
Bournemouth,
BH1 2BZ
8 people
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Showing 1 - 25 of 33 comments
update word is abc is being presently gutted as insider tells me . odoen formally owned abc is also now in green light for flat renovation which maybe completed by 2025/26
at least the old cinema building won’t be totally demolished as once planed .
the facial for grand gaumont odeon will remain intact as new lobby for the new flats
guess the pigeons now will have to vacate
^ squatters as i doubt any of those that go around videoing achieving these cinemas would do that .
At 16:30 on Friday 2nd September 2022 the former ABC cinema was damaged in an arson attack.
Awesome, thank you very much!
Can’t find any CD copies, but it’s available in HQ via digital download/streaming including Spotify.
That would be Score by Richard Myhill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnqhK9ZwY2E
Video of the final screening.
Does anybody know what music is used in the “montage” sequence at the start, and in edited form, in the ABC policy trailer after? Fantastic stuff, excellent composition and arrangement, perfect to set the mood…
Planning application no. 7-2017-1685-L was refused by Bournemouth Council.
Today is the last day (25/August) to submit your thoughts to the planning section of Bournemouth Borough Council about the proposed demolition of the ABC cinema in Bournemouth.
The developers have submitted plans for the demolition of the ABC cinema Bournemouth. If anyone would care to submit their thoughts to the planners on this matter the application number is 7-2017-1685L and the dead line for your submissions is 25-08-2017. Sorry I am unable to send a link to Bournemouth Borough Council’s planning website, but if someone can then that would be helpful. Thank you.
Very sad that a cinema of this calibre has been sacrificed for yet another soulless multiplex…….
I believe today marks the final day before the ABC Bournemouth is handed over to the developers, who have ear marked the property for demolition to facilitate the construction of flats. A proposal has been suggested to keep the facade of the Westover if enough of the Art Deco design remains behind the cladding applied by EMI in the early 1970’s. This is unlikely however as original Art Deco frontage was simplified during a previous modernisation of the cinema and the original impact of the 1937 design was greatly reduced. The cinema has, so I am informed, had many of the original fittings salvaged, including the seats, screen frames, screen tabs (ABC1), DP75 projector, ABC carpet and the giant illuminated ABC triangle sign originally fitted to the front of the building. Personally I will be very sad to see my favourite cinema reduced to rubble as I believe it would offer more to the town in the guise of a cinema than just more flats. An arts cinema in the same vein as that offered to the citizens of Brighton would be a far more imaginative use for the Westover, as the choice of films locally is still very poor despite the new multiplex that opened in February this year.
Article re closure:–
4084596/Curtain-comes-era-silver-screen-entertainment-89-years-giving-joy-millions-ABC-Cinema-killed-multiplex.html.
Very interesting to read the comments of the CTA’s Richard Gray when comparing the original ABC and Odeon circuits………
World Premiere of ‘Happy Go Lovely'in 1951 :–
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/film-chiefs-in-conference/query/westover+cinema+bournemouth
Sad day! BTTF was voted for from a shortlist and shown at 1830. The regular films shown earlier in the day were Moana, Monster Trucks and Why Him? Full story at the following link with several photographs www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4084596/Curtain-comes-era-silver-screen-entertainment-89-years-giving-joy-millions-ABC-Cinema-killed-multiplex.html.
It has closed with a performance of Back to the Future. Very sad.
Last show this evening 04/01/2017 after 79 years & 6 months of film presentation – very sad!
The ABC Bournemouth is expected to close on the 4th January 2017.
I have hired the ABC Bournemouth for a special performance of Flash Gordon this Thursday on screen one. Assuming all is well, the screen tabs will be re-activated for this screening. I expect this to be the final special performance before the cinema closes in the next few weeks.
Visited the ABC on Saturday and saw “Jason Bourne” in Screen 1. Sadly it’s being deliberately run down with the tabs and lighting abandoned and just semi-darkness and a bare screen to greet you. Also it was uncomfortably hot inside like even the plenum system had packed up.
I wasn’t allowed to take any photos but I can’t help feeling they are making the experience here as bad as possible so the multiplex comes across as an improvement. Apparently that opens in January or early February. Not the worst looking leisure complex to be honest and at least it’s only on the other side of the lower gardens. But I still think it’s mad to be eradicating cinemagoing in Westover Road. An epic fail by Bournemouth Council. Mind you, they blew £5m on demolishing the IMAX and leaving a hole in the ground, which kind of tells you all you need to know.
I remember this and the Gaumont (Odeon) further up Westover Road before they were twinned and after. As some people have said their glory days are over. However, let’s not forget that hey have both given wonderful service to Bournemouth over the years. I visited both in October last year with The Cinema Theatre Association of the UK. I fear the opportunity to visit these cinemas is limited. A new multiplex with some 10 screens will open in 2017 and replace both the ABC and the Odeon. The end of an era indeed
It appears that this and the other Odeon have been sold for “Redevelopment” Odeon will transfer to a new “multiplex” in 2017. This was from a recent CTA news letter and an article in the local paper. Sad times !!!!
Greetings I used to live in Bournemouth Many years ago and have a number of cinema photographs I should like to offer. How do I get them onto you website. Regards Bob Jessopp
A proper Cinema ! Working curtains, moving screen masking, and a massive Big Screen with Digital technology running in harmony – how cinema should be! A very theatrical experience and simply much more than what any modern multiplex can offer. It would be a good idea if the occasional 70mm film could be shown – that’s if this beautiful auditorium survives the tide of doom! In fact if cinemas like this go: could cinema itself be lost when one thinks about the technology available in the modern living room? Keep the theatre in cinema before it’s all possibly too late! Please see the Facebook campaign: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Bournemouth-Odeon/509679079071187
Bournemouth Council plans to replace this cinema and the Odeon up the road with an underground multiplex. If that happens Bournemouth will lose two West End standard cinemas, ABC 1 & Odeon 1, If you live in Bournemouth please oppose these plans.
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