Empire Cinema

In the Blackpool suburb of Marton there were two cinemas, one of which - the Empire Cinema - survived in recent years more or less intact as a bingo hall.

Opened on 1929 with 929 seats it was enlarged and modernised in 1939, probably to compete with the Oxford Cinema which had opened the previous year, increasing the capacity of the house to 1,094. The proscenium was 24ft wide. From 1948 to 1959 it was operated by the J.F. Emery Circuit.

The two cinemas closed within a short time of each other - the Empire Cinema first in 1959 and the Oxford Cinema the following year. The Empire Cinema was in use as a family run independent bingo club for several decades. It was closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. On 26th June 2020 it was decided to make the closure permanent. The building was demolished in April 2021.

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