Odeon Westover Bournemouth

37 Westover Road,
Bournemouth, BH1 2BZ

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CP200
CP200 on April 5, 2023 at 12:00 am

it seems uncertain again what is going on with this derelict cinema ? not that i care its closed down so . it seems pigeons have taken residence again so least the pigeons have a home which is positive thinking mind you , i like pigeons

CP200
CP200 on January 31, 2023 at 8:38 am

its been given green light as insider tells me . i’ll have more exclusive on this once i know . at least the site now is going to be converted into flats . the facial front will remain intact from pictures i seen . guess now the pigeons will have to vacate

drguywalker
drguywalker on September 9, 2020 at 12:09 pm

Thanks for the namecheck CF100 :–) I stand corrected. Those (rather distressing!) urban explorer videos show a full Cinerama set-up in Screen 1. Five screen channels each with an Altec A4 Voice of the Theatre speaker system, with side wings. Japanese audiophiles would go nuts for this. Powered by Cinemeccanica C65 amplifiers with ‘transistors’. 30 watts per channel of pure Class B. I didn’t miss a zero! Classic road show rig and state of the art in 1969… Same video shows Gaumont 2: Vitavox centre channel still there…because when it opened it was mono.

CF100
CF100 on October 22, 2019 at 3:19 pm

2019 outline planning application has been “approved in principle.”

Summary details as entered on Bournemouth’s planning database:

“Development and re-development, including partial retention of building including main facade at three levels on the Westover Road frontage to allow for the construction of 1,197sq.m. comparison retail floor space; 67 apartments, 68 car parking spaces, associated servicing facilities, refuse and cycle storage.”

CF100
CF100 on October 22, 2019 at 3:11 pm

Several urban explorers have posted YouTube videos of the current state of this cinema (and the former ABC nearby.) These are particularly interesting venues; many thanks to them for their efforts, should any of them happen to read this.


In response to DrGuyWalker’s post (from 2007!):

I kid you not, the original Vitavox loudspeakers.

Odeon Bournemouth Westover Road urban exploration video.

The above links directly to the time in the video where the old screen speakers can be seen. I am not quite sure about the make/model (HF horns removed?) but this certainly confirms “dinosaur” speakers were still behind the screen. Ironically, these kind of speakers are actually “audiophile” collectors' items today!

(Other videos of the old Westover Road super-cinemas are easy to find on YouTube.)


Obviously, both the Odeon and ABC are in a less than pristine state, with pigeons having moved in. Although their condition is more intact than some other disused cinemas that have been “explored,” with crumbling ceilings and severe water damage—a word of warning—these videos are not for the faint of heart!

CF100
CF100 on December 4, 2017 at 7:03 pm

Having never been to Westover Road—or Bournemouth for that matter!—these cinemas are only of passing academic interest to me. But I couldn’t resist having a look at the 28DaysLater photos—and as a result found a “Historic Building Appraisal” (mentioned but not linked to in the 28DaysLater thread.)

It can be found among the documents in a planning application—between Comment 49 and 50 at the bottom of the page.

The appraisal is 142 pages (!) long, with numerous photos, including of the 1969 conversion works. Incredible!

Quite how in such expensive conversions fragments remain which could clearly have easily been removed is beyond me, especially above ceilings where they would seem to be a liability. Then again, shortcuts taken by builders are often very puzzling indeed…

As a result of searching through planning applications on Bournemouth Council’s site, I notice that the address shown on Cinema Treasures is erroneous—27 Westover Road being that of the former ABC.

Zappomatic
Zappomatic on December 3, 2017 at 3:54 pm

Some interesting shots of old murals and the original proscenium plasterwork: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/odeon-cinema-aka-regent-theatre-westover-road-bournemouth-july-2017.t110311

thomastace
thomastace on January 31, 2017 at 6:14 am

Closing on 9/2/2017

Fabian_Breckels
Fabian_Breckels on August 30, 2016 at 7:54 am

Visited on Sunday. In better condition than the ABC but again the main auditorium is in semi darkness. No photographs allowed so this too is being deliberately run down before the multiplex replaces it. At least the ventilation was working properly, unlike the ABC up the road!

Marcus17
Marcus17 on January 19, 2016 at 10:25 am

Wanted: billionaire to buy the UK’s last Cinerama venue

Please contact the campaign a.s.a.p.

Save Bournemouth Odeon Campaign “Striving To Keep Cinema Theatrical"

Please see the campaign support page: https://www.facebook.com/Save-Bournemouth-Odeon-Striving-To-Keep-Cinema-Theatrical-509679079071187/

Empire_fan
Empire_fan on July 10, 2015 at 6:48 pm

edwardo, he worked at UCI and Warner Bros, you might have misread.

mrchangeover
mrchangeover on July 4, 2015 at 7:40 am

From the aerial shot it looks like the projection room of the original Gaumont, like several other older Gaumonts, was on the roof. Allen Eyles, in his excellent history of Gaumont British Cinemas, mentions that the projection ports are at the rear of the interior dome. Does anyone know how the projectionists accessed the projection room? Did they use an interior staircase and then have to walk across part of the roof outside? Did this type of design result in an excessively steep throw for the projectors and image distortion for those in the audience who were sitting towards the front of the main floor?

edwardo
edwardo on March 26, 2015 at 10:21 am

Andy Summers was not a projection at the Gaumont he was just there on a work Exsperianc .

FanaticalAboutOdeon
FanaticalAboutOdeon on January 26, 2015 at 4:07 pm

The plan is indeed for the present Odeon and ABC cinemas to close once the ten screen Odeon multiplex is completed on Exeter Road in 2016. I for one can’t imagine Westover Road without its two impressive cinemas overlooking the Pavilion fountains and gardens. No doubt we’ll be told the facade of the Regent/Gaumont/Odeon will be retained to “maintain the streetscape” but what good is that when the cinema itself is gone? The thought of a mega Tesco or the south’s largest Macdonalds sitting behind the famous colonnade is not a happy prospect.

Paul Stephenson
Paul Stephenson on December 13, 2014 at 12:39 pm

Unfortunately the long delayed new multiplex has started construction, due for completion in 18 months – late summer 2016. This doesn’t bode well for the existing Odeon and ABC cinemas in Bournemouth.

Vinci starts £50m cinema complex

Marcus17
Marcus17 on March 31, 2014 at 4:29 pm

Hello all,

The Save Bournemouth Odeon Campaign (“Striving To Keep Cinema Theatrical”) is growing strength.

Can ex-staff of this building or the ABC down-the-road please contact the campaign a.s.a.p. We have already heard from a few but we would like to meet more people and chat cinema. We have a function planned.

Cheers :)

MikeJC
MikeJC on June 20, 2013 at 3:20 am

The organ is long gone, but in the thirties, for a time, the audience was entertained with organ and piano duets played by Kevin and Edith Buckley and at least one 78rpm record of their playing at this theatre was issued by HMV – Chopsticks on one side the the Gavotte (I think!) from Mignon by Ambroise Thomas on the other. In the sixties the BBC broadcast a weekly programme, “Melody for Late Evening” played on the Wurlitzer by Ronald Brickhill, the last resident organist.

FanaticalAboutOdeon
FanaticalAboutOdeon on May 11, 2013 at 4:38 pm

GilesEngland – Really good to hear about the presentation standards at the Gaumont in such detail – especially the use of the act-drop/house curtain and the precision of the non-sync music. What a sense of occasion and excited anticipation would be created by clever use of tabs and lighting and how “conspicuous by their absence” are such things in today’s uninspired multiplex rooms. At a time when cinemas ought to be pulling out all the stops to make the experience very different from today’s increasingly sophisticated TVs, the opposite seems to be happening – naked screens, lighting like an airport lounge, masking unused, “No thanks!”. I have a home cinema with variable masking, house and screen tabs, three-colour circuit pageant lighting, LED concealed lighting and projected clock. Friends and neighbours love the atmosphere and you should see children’s expressions when colours change and fade as the curtains open and the picture appears as if by magic. Most multiplexes are conveyor belts for the consumption of popcorn and films – in that order – designed by those with neither flair nor imagination but who are capable of feeding numbers of seats and exits, speaker positions, air conditioning and screen dimensions into a computer model. What comes out at the other end is a cinema with no theatrical connection whatsoever; bland, cold, uninspiring and without “magic”.

Marcus17
Marcus17 on March 17, 2013 at 1:20 am

People who are interested in saving the Bournemouth Odeon & ABC from being moved & redeveloped can post comments, pictures, and raise discussion on Facebook. Search; ‘Save Bournemouth Odeon’ on Facebook or Google it.

keiths
keiths on February 21, 2013 at 2:40 am

Although not a local myself, I have a long family history with the town, and have spent a lot of happy times in the area over the last 60 years. To contemplate the replacement of this historic cinema with the anonymity of an underground multiplex doesn’t bear thinking about. It’s a real shame that its operators don’t use its uniqueness as a major selling point. What does their PR department DO with itself all day?

echodaz
echodaz on February 20, 2013 at 2:16 am

I’m chief reporter at the Daily Echo in Bournemouth and I’ve only recently been made aware of this thread. If anyone’s interested in commenting in the paper – preferably with real name attached – I’d be very interested to hear from you. I have in mind a news piece about those who don’t want to see the Odeon and ABC disappear and also perhaps a feature on the history of the venues. Darren Slade, .uk Or via Twitter: @echodaz

8thFloorJon
8thFloorJon on February 19, 2013 at 10:47 am

Would be a tragic loss to see this go, 150 seat black boxes are not the same! Good luck with the campaign to save it.

Marcus17
Marcus17 on February 18, 2013 at 3:12 pm

Hello,

There is a video on utube that shows Screen 1 of the Odeon Bournemouth back in 2001.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ayJmn2lmxM

Marcus17
Marcus17 on February 18, 2013 at 2:25 pm

Hello all,

Does anyone have any more information on what the future holds for the Odeon Bournemouth cinema?

It is a truly Beautiful cinema with screen one being unique in its own right. I remember up until several years ago it had fantastic golden curtains, which were illuminated by ceiling lighting where fine colours of yellow, blue, and red changed just before the projector started. I am told that the screen masking is no longer used nor do the curtains move. In fact, blue light is only used now as pictured on this website. A great disappointment!

I do really hope that the Odeon Westover Road, Bournemouth can stay and not be redeveloped into ‘presentation rooms’ like what you see in some other dull cinemas. The screen one in the ABC cinema up the road is also a ‘proper’ cinema. They both form part of the town and my family and I have enjoyed them for many years. They are historically irreplaceable.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on October 31, 2012 at 4:06 am

Here is an interior picture of the theatre when it opened as the Regent in 1929.