The hall began showing films in 1924 and ceased on 18 February 1961 when Battle Inferno and The Beatniks were screened. Towards the end its rep had become double bills.
More info on the second screen here: www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2016/12/23/rio-second-third-screen-expansion-plans/. There may even be a chance of a third one later on.
The cinema is being converted into a church by the new owners the Windsor Baptist Church which has outgrown its current home. It was purchased in June 2015 but not expected to be ready until November 2018. More info on the conversion here: http://www.wbcometogether.org/
Films were shown as recently as 2013, but the parish priest Fr Aiden Mullan announced in 2015 that the he intended selling off the hall as it was losing money.
It reopened as a municipal theatre on 1 February 1996 after extensive renovations, and includes a main auditorium of 400 seats and a studio theatre of 52 seats, along with a bar and café. The opening performance was ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin McDonagh. It hosts the Galway International Arts Festival and the Galway Film Fleadh. Films are screened three or four times a month usually by the Galway Film Society.
According to the Randalstown Historical Society here are the milestones of the cinema:
1935 – Cinema erected
1962 – Closed after being condemned over fire safety precautions
1963 – Reopened under new management
1969 – Destroyed by fire
The building was demolished in the early 1970s and the site is now taken up by the pedestrian access to the viaduct footpath. The Elim Church is beside it.
The cinema initially closed in December 2013 but reopened in March 2014 showing classics like Dirty Dancing and E.T. of which there is more info on Facebook. This was for a limited period only as the cost of going digital wasn’t viable. It closed again in May 2014. Evidently it was run by one of the Rutherfords who own the Strand in Belfast.
The Unionist Hall stills screens films shown by the Fermanagh Film Society. The building is not actually on Town Hall Street as such but Shore Road according to Toy Town’s website.
Columbs was opened as a temperance hall in 1886 and was listed for film exhibition in the 1920s, although screenings have been somewhat on-and-off. Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Frank Carson are known to have appeared in the hall itself. The Magic Lantern Film Society set up by Alessandro Negrini started showing films in December 2007 starting with the Michael Moore documentary ‘Sicko’. The church sold off the building to the Garvan O'Doherty group in 2012 to overcome debts, and the main hall has become a banqueting centre and concert venue. There is nothing to suggest that films have been screened in the cinema since.
I have been advised by the local library that the cinema opened in 1932. On conversion, a cutting I have dated to April 1988 states the church was opening that week.
There are photos of the interior at this URL: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/durham-palladium-theatre-cinema-14-10-07.t21496. With 30 years of dereliction it is debatable as to whether a church was actually using the cinema, perhaps the entrance hall if that.
The Regal reopened after tripling in Jan 1988 having spent IR£120,000 on the conversion. Pullman seating was for 290,175 and 79. Larry O’Keeffe bought the place from Ward Anderson in 1995 and turned it back into a theatre which closed in March 2001. It is now the Regal Centre and includes the Pet Planet store since October 2012 and Tangled Yarns. O'Keeffe’s furniture store is now at the back.
The cinema appears to have closed in summer 1984 after which it was Embassy Snooker. A fire occurred in the building in April 1991 although newspaper reports seem to suggest that the cinema or snooker were not affected. Maybe the hall lays back from the front.
Sad day! BTTF was voted for from a shortlist and shown at 1830. The regular films shown earlier in the day were Moana, Monster Trucks and Why Him? Full story at the following link with several photographs www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4084596/Curtain-comes-era-silver-screen-entertainment-89-years-giving-joy-millions-ABC-Cinema-killed-multiplex.html.
The Ormonde was originally run by Dan Crotty, a replacement for his earlier cinema, but was last in the hands of the Spurling family who closed it in 2005 and opened the SGC. It was refurbished in 1989 when it reopened with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Licence to Kill. The site is understood to be now occupied by social housing. Architecture buffs can see more info about this building at www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WA®no=22821080
The Palladium opened in 1932 but was destroyed by fire in September 1936. Rebuilt almost immediately and lasted until August 1990. Source: The Bann Disc, Coleraine Historical Society.
The Picture Palace opened in 1914 and was designed by J. S. Kennedy. Reconstructed in 1937, maybe as a result of the Palladium being rebuilt. Associated for some time with the Christie family.
In December 2016 the press reported that the cinema had temporarily closed due to asbestos. In 2013 council funding cuts meant it was taken over by a community group. There are plans for a 130-seat screen with digital projection and luxury chairs. The hall itself first opened on 28 February 1894.
The Irish Companies website states that the business, the Burren Cinema Co Ltd, was registered on 10 March 1972 and dissolved on 9 May 1989.
More information on the New: the exact opening date was 30 September 1957 and the opening film was Anastasia. It was an 800 seater.
The hall began showing films in 1924 and ceased on 18 February 1961 when Battle Inferno and The Beatniks were screened. Towards the end its rep had become double bills.
More info on the second screen here: www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2016/12/23/rio-second-third-screen-expansion-plans/. There may even be a chance of a third one later on.
Opening films Jackie, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Goodfellas.
The cinema is being converted into a church by the new owners the Windsor Baptist Church which has outgrown its current home. It was purchased in June 2015 but not expected to be ready until November 2018. More info on the conversion here: http://www.wbcometogether.org/
Films were shown as recently as 2013, but the parish priest Fr Aiden Mullan announced in 2015 that the he intended selling off the hall as it was losing money.
New image added today.
When Omniplex reopened the Oscar it became a four-screen cinema.
It reopened as a municipal theatre on 1 February 1996 after extensive renovations, and includes a main auditorium of 400 seats and a studio theatre of 52 seats, along with a bar and café. The opening performance was ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin McDonagh. It hosts the Galway International Arts Festival and the Galway Film Fleadh. Films are screened three or four times a month usually by the Galway Film Society.
According to the Randalstown Historical Society here are the milestones of the cinema: 1935 – Cinema erected 1962 – Closed after being condemned over fire safety precautions 1963 – Reopened under new management 1969 – Destroyed by fire The building was demolished in the early 1970s and the site is now taken up by the pedestrian access to the viaduct footpath. The Elim Church is beside it.
The cinema initially closed in December 2013 but reopened in March 2014 showing classics like Dirty Dancing and E.T. of which there is more info on Facebook. This was for a limited period only as the cost of going digital wasn’t viable. It closed again in May 2014. Evidently it was run by one of the Rutherfords who own the Strand in Belfast.
The Unionist Hall stills screens films shown by the Fermanagh Film Society. The building is not actually on Town Hall Street as such but Shore Road according to Toy Town’s website.
Columbs was opened as a temperance hall in 1886 and was listed for film exhibition in the 1920s, although screenings have been somewhat on-and-off. Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Frank Carson are known to have appeared in the hall itself. The Magic Lantern Film Society set up by Alessandro Negrini started showing films in December 2007 starting with the Michael Moore documentary ‘Sicko’. The church sold off the building to the Garvan O'Doherty group in 2012 to overcome debts, and the main hall has become a banqueting centre and concert venue. There is nothing to suggest that films have been screened in the cinema since.
This now a 10-screen cinema. According to staff the extra screen was added about three years ago.
I have been advised by the local library that the cinema opened in 1932. On conversion, a cutting I have dated to April 1988 states the church was opening that week.
There are photos of the interior at this URL: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/durham-palladium-theatre-cinema-14-10-07.t21496. With 30 years of dereliction it is debatable as to whether a church was actually using the cinema, perhaps the entrance hall if that.
The Regal reopened after tripling in Jan 1988 having spent IR£120,000 on the conversion. Pullman seating was for 290,175 and 79. Larry O’Keeffe bought the place from Ward Anderson in 1995 and turned it back into a theatre which closed in March 2001. It is now the Regal Centre and includes the Pet Planet store since October 2012 and Tangled Yarns. O'Keeffe’s furniture store is now at the back.
Was a cinema by 1930, proprietor Wyndham Lewis (West of England Cinemas) from 1950, full-time bingo from November 1983, church moved in 1986.
The cinema appears to have closed in summer 1984 after which it was Embassy Snooker. A fire occurred in the building in April 1991 although newspaper reports seem to suggest that the cinema or snooker were not affected. Maybe the hall lays back from the front.
Sad day! BTTF was voted for from a shortlist and shown at 1830. The regular films shown earlier in the day were Moana, Monster Trucks and Why Him? Full story at the following link with several photographs www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4084596/Curtain-comes-era-silver-screen-entertainment-89-years-giving-joy-millions-ABC-Cinema-killed-multiplex.html.
The Ormonde was originally run by Dan Crotty, a replacement for his earlier cinema, but was last in the hands of the Spurling family who closed it in 2005 and opened the SGC. It was refurbished in 1989 when it reopened with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Licence to Kill. The site is understood to be now occupied by social housing. Architecture buffs can see more info about this building at www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WA®no=22821080
The Palladium opened in 1932 but was destroyed by fire in September 1936. Rebuilt almost immediately and lasted until August 1990. Source: The Bann Disc, Coleraine Historical Society.
The Picture Palace opened in 1914 and was designed by J. S. Kennedy. Reconstructed in 1937, maybe as a result of the Palladium being rebuilt. Associated for some time with the Christie family.
In December 2016 the press reported that the cinema had temporarily closed due to asbestos. In 2013 council funding cuts meant it was taken over by a community group. There are plans for a 130-seat screen with digital projection and luxury chairs. The hall itself first opened on 28 February 1894.