Unit 4 Cinemas
Broadway,
Accrington,
BB5 1EX
Broadway,
Accrington,
BB5 1EX
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Classic Cinemas (UK), J.F. Emery Circuit, Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation, Unit Four Cinemas
Architects: Francis Edison Drury, Joseph G. Gomersall
Firms: Drury & Gomersall
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Regal Cinema, Odeon, Classic Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located on the corner of Broadway and Cornhill. The Regal Cinema was built for and operated by the J.F. Emery Circuit. It opened on 12th April 1937 with Fred MacMurray in "Champagne Waltz", and Eddie MacGarry’s Band on the stage. Seating was proved in stalls and circle levels, and there was also a cafe/ballroom on the first floor of the building.
Taken over by Oscar Deutsch’s Odeon Theatres Ltd. on 28th February 1944, it was re-named Odeon on 9th April 1945. Later becoming part of the Rank Organisation, it was sold to Classic Cinemas chain on 10th December 1967 and re-named Classic Cinema.
The Classic Cinema was tripled in October 1973, with seating now provided for 338, 189 and 128, and a Vogue Bingo Club. Unit Four Cinemas took over from 9th August 1981, and it was re-named the Unit Four Cinemas. It was closed on 25th March 1990.
It was soon demolished, but plans to build shop and new cinemas on the site came to nothing. After a while the Arndale Shopping Centre was built, which includes a Boots and Specsavers on the actual site of the cinema.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
A vintage late-1930’s view of Broadway, showing the Regal Cinema:
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I think I could have come up with a better name than Unit 4 Cinemas.
I’ve uploaded a photo from the early sixties of the Projection Room,it was given to the former manager of the Town Hall Cinema Pwllheli by the 2nd projectionist of the Odeon. Does anybody remember the hobby of tapesponding ? something similar to pen friends only instead of letters people used to send recording tapes. And this was before audio cassettes. Bill Kenny the Town Hall’s manager was also a projectionist in those days.He passed away this year, I don’t recall the name of the chap at the Odeon Accrington.Sorry about the condition of the photo, I just found it today.
On the hour Father Time would rise out of a globe on his bicycle. Comedian Ken Dodd was the VIP asked to open the centre on October 30, 1987, but the crowds were so large - estimated at several thousand - that he was unable to get to the clock in time and up popped Father Time without him. The centre was further expanded, with the section built over the former cinema’s site. The cinema had been demolished shortly after closure in 1990.