Empire Cinemas
45 Queensmere Centre,
Slough,
SL1 1DD
45 Queensmere Centre,
Slough,
SL1 1DD
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Situated in the Queensmere Shopping Center in Slough, Berkshire
10 screens spread across 4 floors. Seating capacities in the screens range from 487, down to 96. The cinema has seen many different chains operate the site and is a good example of how the cinema industry in the UK has changed over the years. It was built for the Maybox Group opening on 3rd November 1987 as the Maybox Movie Centre, then became the Gallery when it was operated by Cineplex Odeon. Later operators were Virgin, UGC and Cineworld.
Formerly two separate buildings, Screen 4 used to be a theater that had a removable screen. The stage area still remains behind the screen with all the fixtures and fittings still in place. Unfortunately after a very poor refurbishment by Virgin Cinemas, the screen cannot be moved.
In its heyday the site was one of the busiest cinemas in the UK with well over 1,000,000 admissions per year, but due to increasing competition and lack of investment these has steadily been eroded.
Contributed by
Neil Stapley
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Photographed as the Cineworld in January 2004:
http://flickr.com/photos/itslefty/422010646/
Here is a 1987 photo of the Maybox.
The Architects for the refurbishment of the building into Maybox Cinemas were Farringdon Dennys Fisher, formerly of 1 Mercer St., London. The building had been used as a community center previously. The partner in charge was Bill Fisher.