Futurist Theatre
Foreshore Road and Blands Cliff,
Scarborough,
YO11 1NT
Foreshore Road and Blands Cliff,
Scarborough,
YO11 1NT
8 people
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Demolition now sadly well underway – costing £4.2 million – just shy of the Futurists Centenary. Had this money been put into refurbishing the venue the town would have a world-class iconic seafront attraction, but Scarborough Borough Council are an utter disgrace. Some photos of the remains coming down here:–
FUTURIST THEATRE
FUTURIST THEATRE
FUTURIST THEATRE
FUTURIST THEATRE
FUTURIST THEATRE
Some recent pictures on the Facebook page show the on going demolition.. ALL the fixtures and fittings are still in there, nothing appears to have been removed . A total disgrace.
A video on the Facebook page shows the building being demolished. An utter disgrace .
Stripping out has now begun so it looks like the end. Demolition is set to take more than a year because the building is set into a cliff face with houses above. In fact, the whole operation is set to cost £4million, which would have gone a long way towards restoration instead, but it wasn’t to be.
Crap Council – really pleased we have got out of the town TBH.
Demolition plans confirmed. The secretary of state has refused to call in the decision, so £4 million is to be spent on the demolition, which will take around a year. A deeply unpopular decision, especially since the replacement attraction looks like it will be rather naff. What on earth is going on in Scarborough?
A post on a Facebook page and in the local press report that the local clowncil have voted to demolish this theater.
The Futurist was closed by Scarborough Borough Council – the decision of one man, not even the full council – on Sunday 5th January 2013 with a performance of The Hobbit II – The Desolation of Smaug.
They have been wanting to close the theatre for over a decade, looks like they may finally have got their wish.
A 1989 shot of the exterior here, when all the cladding tiles were the same colour and the other businesses in the block were up and running!
FUTURIST THEATRE
Some more photos – taken shortly before the Council meet to decide the fate of the Cinema in August 2012 – largely of areas never seen by the public.
AUDITORIUM PANORAMA
1950’s LIGHTING BOARD
ROOF VOID OVER DOME
ROOF VOID OVER BALCONY
Unusually permission was granted this week (during the run of a stage play (The Calendar Girls) to take some pre-show photos of the the theatre with an audience – so for a view of what it is like in full use …
EXTERIOR
AUDITORIUM TOWARD STAGE
AUDITORIUM FROM STAGE
Thanks Ian.
A two year reprieve has been announced securing the theatres future through to the Autumn of 2012. In the meantime options of restoring and retaining the theatre by a Trust are to be prepared.
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Wow only took the SBC 4 years to find a consultant that told them what they wanted to hear.
Here is a splendid scan of an advert – advertising the cinemascope screen so I guess from around the mid 1950’s, but before 1958, showing the interior of the theatre including the organ and grills, and the previous proscenium arch.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4438117599/
Very nice looking theatre does not look a old as it is,and The Beatles played there too.
Here is a 1968 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yfk7y9x
An exterior night shot as “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” begins its three times daily run here (July 2009):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3729113058/
Scarborough Council have the results of yet another consultancy (who did not bother to contact the lessee of the Futurist) which recommends putting all entertainments into the Spa Grand Hall and closing the Futurist.
Some photos taken in June 2009 of the auditorium here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3618306963/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3619126434/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3619126304/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3618306421/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3619125842/
Wow!! Some of those cinema palaces in England would dwarf many, if not most of the remaining movie palaces here in the United States. Fantastic-looking cinema palaces they are, as is the Futurist Cinema.
Uptodate exterior photo here – taken October 2008 (sadly the cladding still covers the faiance tiles):–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/2962719882/
An older photo from circa 1995 showing the circle area here:–
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It is continuing through 2008 and 2009 and appears to be doing fairly well. There is a planning application at present for a new development which will include a 5 screen multiplex on the North Street Car Park site. If that goes ahead the future of the Futurist will be in grave doubt.
Two more photos from August 2008 here.
View link
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Any status updates on future of this theatre? I must say I do find the interior compellingly bizarre, but any theatre this size that still shows films should remain.
Would anone else be interested in starting a serious campaign to save the Futurist? Surely if we get enough support we can save the building from demolition. Please reply if you feel this idea is viable.