Arcadia Theatre

Built for and operated by William Catlin and designed by Scarborough architect Frank A. Tugwell. Plaxtons of Scarborough were the builders. The Palladium Picture House opened on the 1st July 1912 and claimed to be the most modern cinema in England. Much was made of the ornate ceiling in the auditorium and the marble staircase leading to the balcony. The facade was faced with the same white faience tiles as used for the later 1921 built adjacent Futurist Theatre. On 9th April 1921 it closed, the final film being “Pride of the North”.

The adjoining Futurist Theatre was nearing completion (also designed by Tugwell) and the Palladium Cinema had a stage built behind the screen during its final months of operation, and the cinema needed to close to allow for this to be knocked through. It reopened as the Arcadia Theatre on the 14th May 1921. It was equipped with an organ (details unknown). It still showed films on occasion out of season but was primarily a live venue until 1966 when it closed for good. Much of the auditorium was used to extend the Futurist Theatre stage, and the remaining space was utilised as the Minstrels Lounge.

The bricked up remains of the proscenium survived in a backstage area of the Futurist Theatre. It was demolished together with the Futurist Theatre in Summer of 2018.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.