Everyman York
Blossom Street,
York,
YO24 1AJ
Blossom Street,
York,
YO24 1AJ
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 143 of 143 comments
http://www.annoyanceproductions.com/lawsuit.html
Could the theatre support live music, theatre and movies?
Hallo,
tap on the following link
www.mawgrim.co.uk
And go to Odeon Cavalcade, select Odeon York…. and see three pictures of this wondrous cinema
best
kev p
Travelled up to York for business not long ago…for a beautiful town this cinema is a shame…looks from the outside as if it has been poorly maintained.
Odeon bosses are considering a million pound refurbishment of its 1937 York landmark in Blossom Street after over a year of uncertainty as to its future.
Regional managers have spoken to the city’s MP and told him that they intend to present proposal to company chiefs within the next few weeks.
Whilst good news after all our campaining one of the ideas muted is the subdivision of Screen One into 3 screens. This would be a shame as this is currently the largest auditorium in the city on a pleasing stadium arrangement and which preserves most of the original features. The circle was extended down to the former front stalls in 1972. It seats around 800 people and still regularly sells out for the new releases.
It may be a better idea to look to the 2 smaller screens, created out of the stalls area as they are pretty awful and the space could be arranged far better or with some imagination and planning permission it could be unobtrusively extended into the far too small car park without altering the stunning elevation of the building.
It is hoped that the plans will be sympathetic to the remaining art deco features of this Grade II listed building.
We will wait and see.
Thanks for your posting rroberts…
Well news has been pretty quiet on the Odeon front since April. We have tried on several occasions to get an answer from the owners as to the future of the cinema, but to no avail. It would seem that they are determined to run it into the ground with little or no maintenance work being done to maintain what does remain. They put prices up in April which we think is a further ploy to drive customers away. A couple of weeks ago a front page article in our local paper ran showed readers the run down state of the interior with bare light bulbs on fittings in the foyer, filthy and neglected toilets, taped down carpets, damage to railings and cordoned off seating. It has now been a year since the owners announced that they were assessing the site for its economic viability, and we fear that as a result of this forced neglect the news will not be good. We are still watching the future of the building with bated breath and going to see films there, but unless an independent operator or a film loving millionaire takes its on this art deco gem and rightly restores it to its 1937 opening day splendour the neglect will continue. The owning chain has recently been bought by a venture capital firm so it remains to be seen if they will invest any money into the builidng or whether they are just in the cinema business to make a quick profit and sell off those older properties for redevelopment. Regardless of the outcome there is great local support for the cinema, the population of York is steadily growing with new housing developments being built all over the city, and us volunteers will go on fighting for the best cinema in the north of england.
Any help would indeed be appreciated as to suggestions from other like minded organisations. Please get in touch with me at
I will endeavor to keep you all posted.
Magnificent cinema! Great story. What has happened since April? Fascinating story. We have done this type of PR before in America. It always takes more that PR. It takes money and political influence. Perhaps we could help. www.grandevenues.com
I think the ODEON is a gr8 place for a group of friends 2 go, even families. It is somewhere for teenagers 2 go when skool is not open, (eg. staff day) or I also got there on m8’s birthdays, it just brilliant, the sweets/popcorn/drinks etc, choices are endless and they don’t taste like shit either, but the Odeon is also not 2 expensive which, York City Screen is!! and because it i not expensive, it is idealfor teenagers/young children, adfamilies tat do not have much cash 2 spend on leisure activities, there is also a gr8 range of films 2 watch, could be more tho. I am comeing 2day, 2 watch 50fist dates. At 1:25- 4:55pm, so see you there, and dont 4get,“THE ODOEN CINEMA IS THE ONE 4U!"
Don’t go anywhere else!
Lvya Loads, from
Loz -x- (Lra Sockett) ()
Since my last update we’ve had some good news and bad news with regards to our campaign.
On the plus side we’ve had over 13,000 signatures of support, in less than 9 weeks, to save the cinema, from all walks of life, and indeed all parts of the globe.
This week we heard the fantastic news that Oscar winning actress Dame Judi Dench was backing us in our fight after one of our campaign team wrote to request her help.
Dame Judi,who was born and grew up in York, wrote back “ I am delighted to add my support to your campaign to save the York Odeon cinema. It is the most beautiful art deco building.
“I have very happy memories of it and would be devastated to see it closed.
“ I wish you every success with the campaignâ€.
Not so good was the response we received from Odeon’s head office when representatives of the campaign team, MP for York Hugh Bayley, and the Evening Press newspaper tried to deliver the 13,600 signatures collected so far. Upon arrival at their building, just off Leicester Square, they were made to wait whilst it was asked if anyone in a senior position within the company would come down to reception to receive. Through the intercom a lady replied that there was no one available but it could be posted through the door! Hugh Bayley refused and said that out of respect for the thousands who signed it he would only deliver it by hand.
Finally a woman who refused to give her name or position appeared at the front door to take the packaged petition, promising to pass it on to the Chief Executive, Ian Pluthero.
I have suggested that maybe people should write directly to the Chief Executive at Odeon and gladly post his details on here for anyone that may wish to do so
Ian Pluthero
Chief Executive
Odeon Cinemas Ltd
54 Whitcomb Street
London, WC2H 7DN
This snub to our campaigners says a lot for the owners of the cinema, but the collecting of signatures and our fight to keep it open will continue. More news when we have it.
As of this week we have now raced past the 10,000 signature mark with our petition. Our local politician and council leaders were meeting Friday (27th) with senior managers from the Odeon’s owners to decide on its future. We await further news and I will post updates as and when I hear anything…
Our campaign continues with fantastic results. In less than 4 weeks we have now reached over 8,000 signatures of support. The removal of wall tiling in the auditorium is apparently beacuse they are made from some composite material which includes asbestos and have been removed, illegally it has to be said, as a health and safety issue. The council conservation architect is now to meet with the owners to discuss a suitable replacement, hopefully to the same streamlined design as before.
So far we have had a fantastic response to our Save The York Odeon campaign with over 6,000 people signing up their support in less than 3 weeks! Although we have some way to go to persuade the owners to keep it open and treat the building to a sensitive refurbishment this is a wonderful start, and shows that many people out there still love the building.
On a rather more cryptic note a recent visit to the building by one of our campaigners revealed that large sections of original Art Deco wall tiling which form part of the auditoriums streamlined decoration have been needlessly removed. When asked, management refused to confirm why this had been carried out! This has now be reported by campainers to the local city council as this is a breach of listed building status which means permission has to be sought before any original features are removed. The councils conservation architect is now investigating the matter.
The next step is getting the campaign some national coverage and I have been writing to celebrities who come from York in the hope that they may be able to help us, so fingers crossed we could have some celebrity backing soon. For those who might be interested Dame Judi Dench, Mark Addy, and David Bradley (caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films) are all from York.
If you haven’t done so already please sign our online petition and read all about our campaign at www.thisisyork.co.uk
I will keep visitors posted.
With recent news that this fine cinema could be closed by the odeon company many people have signed a petition to try and save the odeon.
Myself, and another devoted cinema historian are trying to changed the present owners minds and keep the cinema operating for future generations to enjoy.
Derek Atkins.
( public relations officer Mercia Cinema Society).
It would be a tragedy if this building closes as a cinema. Hope local people will rally round and fight to save the Odeon, which my family have been enjoying for four generations. It is still the best picture-going experience in York in my opinion.
Seems like a bunch of greedy owners who don’t know anything about history….. we should give them a piece of our mind!
On November 27th it was announced the owners are looking at the sites economic viability which more than likely means that the Odeon now faces closure. I intend to fight this and hope I can rally the support of local people, and also readers of this site. Please email your comments to me at
THANKFULLY YORK COUNCIL SAW SENSE AND REJECTED THE REBRANDING OF THE ODEON SIGNAGE.THIS KEY CINEMA THEATRE SHOULD RETAIN ALL THE ORIGINAL FEATURES IT HAS LEFT.WE CAN ONLY HOPE THE ODEON COMPANY DOES NOT NOW CLOSE THE CINEMA.ODEON SHOULD BE PROUD TO HAVE THIS FAMOUS HISTORIC CINEMA IN IT’S EXISTING PORTFOLIO.
DEREK ATKINS (PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, MERCIA CINEMA SOCIETY).
The historic facade sign, the only one left in this style, has fortunatly been saved, despite the owners wanting to remove it and replace with a hideous new style example. Now only if they cna be bothered to restore it.