Grand Theatre

Ian on April 20, 2020 at 5:04 am

Some additional information:–

It was listed in the Kine Year Book of 1914 with 1,100 seats, by 1954 was reported as having 905 seats, two dressing rooms and a stage 16 feet deep with a proscenium 22 feet wide and was run by Ogden Theatres Circuit ( a small Manchester company running 11 cinemas) who seem to have owned it for a considerable time. It is also listed in Dobson’s Theatre Year Book 1948 – a live theatre directory – with 1,048 seats. There are reports that the theatre staged live shows on Sundays throughout the War. Offered ‘for sale’, together with La Scala Cinema in Hollinwood, in February 1958, it was purchased by the church of St Mary (The Immaculate Conception) whose 1845 building became unsafe and required rebuilding. The Grand was converted and consecrated as a temporary place of worship in 1959 and continued until a new church opened in 1964. The Grand then underwent a variety of uses including the Christian Cultural Centre. Seriously damaged by a fire in 2012, it was demolished not long after.