Around a dozen new photos taken well after the re-opening, together with several of the above during refurbishment shots (work-in-progress)can be found in this set:–
As stated above the former circle has now been split into two unequal portions (90 seats and 40 seats approx), but a great deal of care has gone into disguising the partition wall to look like the original decor. Regrettably neither cinema has screen tabs now.
That is largely because it is practically only possible to photograph this theatre from one angle – the streets are so narrow and the only other facade is rather dull!
I have to say I largely agree with the outcome although this has been brought about by iniquities that should not exist.
1) the interior was deliberately trashed before English Heritage could view the Odeon. Such acts of vandalism should be made legally reversible at the cost of the owner if EH decide that prior to the destruction it was listable. Furthermore EH should have the right to thoroughly inspect a building (including looking behind partition walls and above ceilings causing potential damage to existing fittings) before coming to a conclusion.
2) if organisations such as Odeon’s owners place a covenant on a building to prevent a specific use in the future then a portion of the sale price should be required to be donated to other similar enterprises in the area. So say a 20% levy on this development purchase price should be made available to aid cinema preservation in the area. Cutting into their profits is the only way to stop restrictive practises. At least if one building is lost, then another might be saved.
3) the dereliction and sub-division it itself is not insurmountable. I commented recently on the Berkhamsted Rex which was in a far worse state than the Odeon, but where there was a will (much opposed) to save it. There is no such desire in Manchester to save the Odeon
They were so unsure of the success of this multiplex that included in the specification for the design was the ability to convert it to a supermarket! It was initially a big hit, although lamentably plain as these images show. The poor raking and high screens (note the exit doors below) made for less than ideal viewings :–
Sorry, I have not been able to locate any report of the opening which gives the colour scheme.
I did find a Hansard report from 1998 which the then MP asked the Minister to have the Rex de-listed and replaced by sheltered housing! View link
[i]
Mr. Page
If he will visit the Rex cinema in Berkhamsted. [32897]
The Minister for Film and Tourism (Mr. Tom Clarke)
I have no plans to visit the Rex cinema. If it were currently showing a good British film, I might be temptedâ€"but, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the Rex has been closed for years.
Mr. Page
I am disappointed that the right hon. Gentleman will not visit the Rex cinema. As he has rightly said, it has been closed for some years. It is in a dilapidated state; £2 million is needed to glue it together. Berkhamsted is an attractive town and the Rex cinema, in the middle of it, is an eyesore.
As I said, £2 million is needed to repair the cinema. If it is used for cultural purposes, it will require £100,000 to £200,000 a year in subsidies. Will the Minister either provide the £2 million that is needed to bring the cinema back to its former glory and the £100,000 to £200,000 a year to maintain it or allow the frieze around the screen and the plaster shells on the sideâ€"which, as the Minister will know from his 1930s days are the sort of features that have given the Rex its listingâ€"to be stored elsewhere? Better still, will the Minister take steps to remove the listing, allow the site to be developed for sheltered housing and take the pressure off the green belt, which is so badly needed in Hertfordshire?
Mr. Clarke
I have no intention of intervening. It is true that my Department has received letters, but only two have been opposed to the listing. One such letter was from the hon. Gentleman on 19 May 1997, in which he enclosed a letter from the developers. However, the local authority, the Friends of the Rex, the Ancient Monuments Society and the Cinema Theatre Association all support the listing. The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a presumption in favour of the preservation of listed buildings. We support that view.
The photos linked in this report were taken in October 2008, many have a link in the text below the photo to an earlier 1988 picture taken from approximately the same spot.
However when you take a look in the auditorium you can forgive almost anything! This is undoubtedly one of the very few cinemas remaining in the UK where you can really watch a film in true 1930’s glamour, anyone who claims to prefer a multiplex having only ever experienced a run-down tripled movie palace should make a beeline to the Rex to see first hand the true delights of cinema. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956508010/
The cinema is now entered through, it has to said, a slightly awkward new set of doors, punched through the side wall at circle foyer level. The circle lounge was always the weakest part of the Rex â€" a long narrow squat corridor with toilets, storage and a managers office on one side and a pair of vomitory entrances to the auditorium on the other. You now enter at the former dead-end of the corridor and the space has been opened up to provide seating and a bar, following the underside of the balcony to give an impressive height. At the other end the ceiling has been raised but the ladies and gents have been retained and a box office constructed at where you would have originally come through from the main double height foyer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955663041/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956507774/
Both vomitories are used and access to the cinema is now at circle level. In the balcony every other row of seats have been removed and the steppings built up to provide luxurious amounts of legroom â€" so much so that tip-up seats are not required and well upholstered fixed armchair seating replaces them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955664219/
At the front sides of the balconies discrete new staircases have been constructed to give access to the former stalls area which now sports a bar with tables and individual chairs instead of the more usual rows of seats. The projection room is now accesses through the auditorium, in a rtaher small door, and the exterior iron stairs have been removed. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956507220/
No attempt to recreate the original colour scheme has been made â€" the cinema is now a dramatic mix of red, black and gold, which really highlights the amazing plasterwork and art deco features that remain just as David Evelyn Nye designed them back in 1937/8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955663891/
The Rex was grade II listed in 1988, the year that it closed as the developers circled, eyeing the site for redevelopment. For once the authorities refused attempts to de-list and demolish the building, insisting that the auditorium remain as far as possible. For sixteen years this building lay unused, unheated, vandalised and branded an eyesore. The formula, so successful here, will not of course work everywhere, but the Rex Berkhamsted is a shining example of what CAN be achieved in the face of developers or pub chains who want to destroy the UK’s cinema treasures for a quick profit.
Thanks Lost Memory – the website that Google kept throwing up for me is defunct! I have just noticed that many of the photos on the website are mine – note the arrangement of the chairs on the stage (photos used with permission, but not acknowledged!).
During the summer of 2008 a new raked floor has been laid over the original and new stalls seating provided to improve the comfort. A series of photos – all interior – taken during the refurbishment can be seen here:–
Around a dozen new photos taken well after the re-opening, together with several of the above during refurbishment shots (work-in-progress)can be found in this set:–
View link
As stated above the former circle has now been split into two unequal portions (90 seats and 40 seats approx), but a great deal of care has gone into disguising the partition wall to look like the original decor. Regrettably neither cinema has screen tabs now.
Some photos from November 2008 here:-
Exterior:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3047130105/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3047130271/
Foyer:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3047130535/
Auditoria:
(larger) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3047130817/
(smaller) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3047966718/
That is largely because it is practically only possible to photograph this theatre from one angle – the streets are so narrow and the only other facade is rather dull!
However here is an interior photograph :-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/61348848/
I have to say I largely agree with the outcome although this has been brought about by iniquities that should not exist.
1) the interior was deliberately trashed before English Heritage could view the Odeon. Such acts of vandalism should be made legally reversible at the cost of the owner if EH decide that prior to the destruction it was listable. Furthermore EH should have the right to thoroughly inspect a building (including looking behind partition walls and above ceilings causing potential damage to existing fittings) before coming to a conclusion.
2) if organisations such as Odeon’s owners place a covenant on a building to prevent a specific use in the future then a portion of the sale price should be required to be donated to other similar enterprises in the area. So say a 20% levy on this development purchase price should be made available to aid cinema preservation in the area. Cutting into their profits is the only way to stop restrictive practises. At least if one building is lost, then another might be saved.
3) the dereliction and sub-division it itself is not insurmountable. I commented recently on the Berkhamsted Rex which was in a far worse state than the Odeon, but where there was a will (much opposed) to save it. There is no such desire in Manchester to save the Odeon
A few photos – interior and exterior can be found here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2842686544/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/274045756/ (includes ceiling)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/274045751/ (includes projection room window)
A few more photos here – exterior and interior taken in 2006 and 1988
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/103077469/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2123407434/
(that light fitting is now in the Hollywood Plaza, Scarborough)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2123407184/
They were so unsure of the success of this multiplex that included in the specification for the design was the ability to convert it to a supermarket! It was initially a big hit, although lamentably plain as these images show. The poor raking and high screens (note the exit doors below) made for less than ideal viewings :–
Exterior (1988) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2128476115/
Projection (1988) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2129253506/
Auditoria (1988) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2128475251/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2129253216/
This was one of the first closures of a UK multiplex.
Sorry, I have not been able to locate any report of the opening which gives the colour scheme.
I did find a Hansard report from 1998 which the then MP asked the Minister to have the Rex de-listed and replaced by sheltered housing!
View link
[i]
If he will visit the Rex cinema in Berkhamsted. [32897]
The Minister for Film and Tourism (Mr. Tom Clarke)
I have no plans to visit the Rex cinema. If it were currently showing a good British film, I might be temptedâ€"but, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the Rex has been closed for years.
Mr. Page
I am disappointed that the right hon. Gentleman will not visit the Rex cinema. As he has rightly said, it has been closed for some years. It is in a dilapidated state; £2 million is needed to glue it together. Berkhamsted is an attractive town and the Rex cinema, in the middle of it, is an eyesore.
As I said, £2 million is needed to repair the cinema. If it is used for cultural purposes, it will require £100,000 to £200,000 a year in subsidies. Will the Minister either provide the £2 million that is needed to bring the cinema back to its former glory and the £100,000 to £200,000 a year to maintain it or allow the frieze around the screen and the plaster shells on the sideâ€"which, as the Minister will know from his 1930s days are the sort of features that have given the Rex its listingâ€"to be stored elsewhere? Better still, will the Minister take steps to remove the listing, allow the site to be developed for sheltered housing and take the pressure off the green belt, which is so badly needed in Hertfordshire?
Mr. Clarke
I have no intention of intervening. It is true that my Department has received letters, but only two have been opposed to the listing. One such letter was from the hon. Gentleman on 19 May 1997, in which he enclosed a letter from the developers. However, the local authority, the Friends of the Rex, the Ancient Monuments Society and the Cinema Theatre Association all support the listing. The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a presumption in favour of the preservation of listed buildings. We support that view.
[/i]
Three current images of the Odeon after closure, with the development notice attached to the facade.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2969119168/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2968274159/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2968274081/
View of the Picture House taken in 1984 here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/74757116/
A 1990 shot of the Opera House here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/91776663/
Uptodate exterior photo here – taken October 2008 (sadly the cladding still covers the faiance tiles):–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2962719882/
Compulsory purchase procedures are underway prior to total demolition.
View link
The photos linked in this report were taken in October 2008, many have a link in the text below the photo to an earlier 1988 picture taken from approximately the same spot.
I had the opportunity to tour the re-opened Rex last week and was astounded at the superb restoration that has taken place here. Necessity has required that some compromises have been made, the large car park to the rear of the cinema has been used for new build flats, which together with the former shops and original flats (which have an additional penthouse floor added), has funded the restoration. Also the original foyer and café have been splendidly returned to “as-new†condition, but no longer service the cinema, being an up-market bar and restaurant named “The Gatsbyâ€.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955662123/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955662509/
However when you take a look in the auditorium you can forgive almost anything! This is undoubtedly one of the very few cinemas remaining in the UK where you can really watch a film in true 1930’s glamour, anyone who claims to prefer a multiplex having only ever experienced a run-down tripled movie palace should make a beeline to the Rex to see first hand the true delights of cinema.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956508010/
The cinema is now entered through, it has to said, a slightly awkward new set of doors, punched through the side wall at circle foyer level. The circle lounge was always the weakest part of the Rex â€" a long narrow squat corridor with toilets, storage and a managers office on one side and a pair of vomitory entrances to the auditorium on the other. You now enter at the former dead-end of the corridor and the space has been opened up to provide seating and a bar, following the underside of the balcony to give an impressive height. At the other end the ceiling has been raised but the ladies and gents have been retained and a box office constructed at where you would have originally come through from the main double height foyer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955663041/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956507774/
Both vomitories are used and access to the cinema is now at circle level. In the balcony every other row of seats have been removed and the steppings built up to provide luxurious amounts of legroom â€" so much so that tip-up seats are not required and well upholstered fixed armchair seating replaces them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955664219/
At the front sides of the balconies discrete new staircases have been constructed to give access to the former stalls area which now sports a bar with tables and individual chairs instead of the more usual rows of seats. The projection room is now accesses through the auditorium, in a rtaher small door, and the exterior iron stairs have been removed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2956507220/
No attempt to recreate the original colour scheme has been made â€" the cinema is now a dramatic mix of red, black and gold, which really highlights the amazing plasterwork and art deco features that remain just as David Evelyn Nye designed them back in 1937/8.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2955663891/
The Rex was grade II listed in 1988, the year that it closed as the developers circled, eyeing the site for redevelopment. For once the authorities refused attempts to de-list and demolish the building, insisting that the auditorium remain as far as possible. For sixteen years this building lay unused, unheated, vandalised and branded an eyesore. The formula, so successful here, will not of course work everywhere, but the Rex Berkhamsted is a shining example of what CAN be achieved in the face of developers or pub chains who want to destroy the UK’s cinema treasures for a quick profit.
Thanks Lost Memory – the website that Google kept throwing up for me is defunct! I have just noticed that many of the photos on the website are mine – note the arrangement of the chairs on the stage (photos used with permission, but not acknowledged!).
Photos taken in May 2008 here:–
Exterior / Foyer:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2920893551/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921738702/
Auditorium:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921742152/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921741678/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2920896027/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921741054/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921740642/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2921740276/
Some photos dating from 1986 as the theatre was being converted into a nightclub:–
Exterior:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2885227382/
Interior:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/138495874/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/138495878/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/138495880/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/138495875/
A very beautiful theatre – some photos:–
Exterior (1988 and 2007)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/373384162/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/413543950/
Interior Boxes (derelict and restored)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/373384156/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/413543944/
Auditorium (derelict in 1988)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/373384161/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/373384158/
Auditorium (restored – taken in 2007)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/413543946/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/413543949/
During the summer of 2008 a new raked floor has been laid over the original and new stalls seating provided to improve the comfort. A series of photos – all interior – taken during the refurbishment can be seen here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2898368860/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2897525719/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2898368608/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2898368520/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2897525443/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2897525343/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2897525099/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2897525249/
A few night shots showing the neon, entrance and canopy here (September 2008):–
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View link
Close up of the organ here:–
View link
Three photos taken during the building works in the former Picture Playhouse, September 2008.
View link
View link
View link
An older photo from circa 1995 showing the circle area here:–
View link
Four photos (inside and out) taken in 1995 here:–
View link
View link
View link
View link
Another photo taken in September 2008 here:–
View link