Scala Cinema

79 High Street,
Runcorn, WA7 1AH

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Cheshire County Cinemas

Architects: Leonard H. Clegg

Styles: Neo-Classical

Previous Names: Palace Kinema

Nearby Theaters

Palace Cinema

The Palace Kinema was opened on 20th March 1913 with Maurice Costello in “A Tale of Two Cities”.

In 1919, it was re-named Scala Cinema, and boasted a café for the convenience of its patrons. It was operated by the Cheshire County Cinemas chain. It closed as a cinema in 1957, and was converted into a dance hall. The Beatles played here on 16th October 1962 and again on 12th November 1962. In 1970, it was converted into La Scala Bingo Club.

The bingo club closed in 2006 and in 2011, the building stood unused and increasingly derelict, awaiting demolition, which came in late-2012.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

woody
woody on April 12, 2011 at 6:41 am

photos here show how much remains of the original frontage
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woody
woody on April 12, 2011 at 6:46 am

interior photos from 28 days later, showing little remains due to huge holes in the roof
View link

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on April 18, 2011 at 2:43 pm

Thanks for the photos woody.

Mike_Blakemore
Mike_Blakemore on November 3, 2012 at 7:01 am

Found an early picture

Ian
Ian on May 17, 2013 at 3:14 am

As of May 2013 the Scala is gone, demolished possibly as long as six months ago. The site shows no signs of re-use and the empty space is fenced-off.

A photo when still operating as a bingo hall here:– SCALA RUNCORN

Philip Picturedrome
Philip Picturedrome on March 18, 2016 at 6:32 pm

The Palace Cinema, Runcorn was completely new in 1913. The Ordnance Survey map, revised in 1905, shows the site to be empty. Another source (not repeated here) claims that there was a theatre (1897) on the site. Definitely wrong! That “Urban Myth” came from “Curtains” – one of many mistakes in that publication. There had been a Victorian theatre nearby, but that’s another story, and it wasn’t even on the same road.

PROJIE
PROJIE on February 17, 2019 at 3:02 am

The Scala opened on the 20th March 1913 with the film A Tale of Two Cities.

Philip Picturedrome
Philip Picturedrome on February 5, 2021 at 5:13 am

The Palace was re-named Scala in 1919 in common with other Scalas in the Levy Circuit.

Alfred Levy was the managing director of Palace, Runcorn, Ltd., from the earliest days, certainly by 1915

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