Empire Theatre

58 Front Street,
Wingate, TS28 5QA

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Empire Electric Theatre

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Located in Wingate, County Durham. The Empire Electric Theatre was opened on 24th October 1910. It was purpose built for pictures & variety, and the auditorium ran parallel along Front Street. The proscenium was 20 feet wide and the stage 15 feet deep. In 1915, the theatrical licence was not renewed, and the building became a full time cinema.

With the arrival of talkies, a British Thomas-Houston(BTH) sound system was installed in the Empire Theatre. CinemaScope was installed in the mid-1950’s, and it was closed in the mid-1960’s.

It was converted into a bingo club. After this closed, the building was demolished and five flats known as Empire Building has been built on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

terry
terry on December 13, 2018 at 2:45 pm

This reopened for films for a brief period in 1970.

As I recall, the newspaper coverage in The Northern Echo emphasised the fact that the new lessee was going to show 16mm only! I do not recall how long the venture lasted but I guess that it was short lived.

At around the same time another brief revival occurred at the Avenue Cinema in nearby Coxhoe using 35mm.

Biffaskin
Biffaskin on May 24, 2020 at 1:40 pm

This building has been demolished completely, all newly built flats comprise Empire House.

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