Severn Cinema

This was a short-lived cinema that operated within Wembley Conference Centre in Wembley, Middlesex, today part of northwest Greater London.

Designed for the British Electric Traction Company by R. Seifert and Partners, construction on the Centre began in May 1973. It was officially opened by the Duke of Kent on 31 January 1977. Its main auditorium, the Grand Hall, could seat 2,500 people.

The Centre Cinema was part of a larger development. Next to it were the Greenwich Rooms and Elvin House, a futuristic triangular office block, as well as the Wembley Exhibition Centre.

The Severn Cinema opened in the Centre’s Severn Suite around September 1978. Although a fully functioning public cinema, it was really an experiment to see whether there was still a demand for English language films following the conversion of Wembley’s remaining cinemas - the Regal/ABC and the Gaumont/Odeon (see separate Cinema Treasures entries) - to wholly Asian films.

Although, initially, large audiences were attracted to the very popular films, attendances soon started dwindling. At the same time, overheads were increasing and, in addition, the Severn Suite was increasingly in demand for conferences.

Accordingly, the Severn Cinema closed on Saturday 1st November 1980.

Much more recently, in preparation for a major redevelopment of Wembley Stadium and the area immediately surrounding it, the Conference Centre was demolished in September 2006. In its place a mixed-use development, Quadrant Court, was built.

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