Odeon Westover Bournemouth
37 Westover Road,
Bournemouth,
BH1 2BZ
37 Westover Road,
Bournemouth,
BH1 2BZ
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Gaumont-British Picture Corp., Ltd., Odeon Cinemas Group, Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: William Edward Trent
Firms: Seal & Hardy
Styles: French Renaissance
Previous Names: Regent Theatre, Gaumont Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Regent Theatre was built for the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres chain(PCT). PCT had just been taken over by Gaumont British Theatres when it opened on 13th May 1929 with the silent film "Two Lovers" starring Ronald Colman. The Regent Theatre was wired for sound when it opened.
Designed by architect William Edward Trent who was assisted by the local architectural firm Seal & Hardy, the original seating capacity was for 2,267 in stalls and circle. The façade contains a series of seven colonnaded arches, behind which was located the first-floor restaurant which could seat 300-diners. The auditorium was decorated in a French Renaissance style and had painted panels on each side of the proscenium, the work of artist Frank Barnes.
The Regent Theatre was equipped with a Wurlitzer 2Manual/9Ranks theatre organ which was opened by Reginald Foort. Full stage facilities were provided, and the safety curtain had a charming landscape scene painted on its front, again, the work of Frank Barnes.
The Regent Theatre was re-named Gaumont from 22nd August 1949 and continued until 16th November 1968 when it was closed for twinning. It re-opened on 15th July 1969 as Gaumont 1 & 2 and the building continued to be successful.
It was one of the last of the Gaumont Theatres to be re-branded Odeon when the Rank Organisation were standardising the names of all their cinemas. The name Odeon appeared on the building from 30th October 1986 and in March 1989 the downstairs Odeon 2 in the former stalls was closed for sub-dividing into 4 screens. These re-opened as Odeon 2,3,4,5 in June 1989. Seating in these screens was:359, 267,119 & 121. Odeon 1 in the former circle remains intact today as a 757 seat cinema which has a very large and very deeply curved screen. In February 1995 the 140 seat capacity Odeon 6 was opened in the former restaurant area.
The Odeon was closed on 9th February 2017. In January 2023 it was announced that the building would be gutted internally and converted into flats.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 42 comments)
Wanted: billionaire to buy the UK’s last Cinerama venue
Please contact the campaign a.s.a.p.
Save Bournemouth Odeon Campaign “Striving To Keep Cinema Theatrical"
Please see the campaign support page: https://www.facebook.com/Save-Bournemouth-Odeon-Striving-To-Keep-Cinema-Theatrical-509679079071187/
Visited on Sunday. In better condition than the ABC but again the main auditorium is in semi darkness. No photographs allowed so this too is being deliberately run down before the multiplex replaces it. At least the ventilation was working properly, unlike the ABC up the road!
Closing on 9/2/2017
Some interesting shots of old murals and the original proscenium plasterwork: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/odeon-cinema-aka-regent-theatre-westover-road-bournemouth-july-2017.t110311
Having never been to Westover Road—or Bournemouth for that matter!—these cinemas are only of passing academic interest to me. But I couldn’t resist having a look at the 28DaysLater photos—and as a result found a “Historic Building Appraisal” (mentioned but not linked to in the 28DaysLater thread.)
It can be found among the documents in a planning application—between Comment 49 and 50 at the bottom of the page.
The appraisal is 142 pages (!) long, with numerous photos, including of the 1969 conversion works. Incredible!
Quite how in such expensive conversions fragments remain which could clearly have easily been removed is beyond me, especially above ceilings where they would seem to be a liability. Then again, shortcuts taken by builders are often very puzzling indeed…
As a result of searching through planning applications on Bournemouth Council’s site, I notice that the address shown on Cinema Treasures is erroneous—27 Westover Road being that of the former ABC.
Several urban explorers have posted YouTube videos of the current state of this cinema (and the former ABC nearby.) These are particularly interesting venues; many thanks to them for their efforts, should any of them happen to read this.
In response to DrGuyWalker’s post (from 2007!):
Odeon Bournemouth Westover Road urban exploration video.
The above links directly to the time in the video where the old screen speakers can be seen. I am not quite sure about the make/model (HF horns removed?) but this certainly confirms “dinosaur” speakers were still behind the screen. Ironically, these kind of speakers are actually “audiophile” collectors' items today!
(Other videos of the old Westover Road super-cinemas are easy to find on YouTube.)
Obviously, both the Odeon and ABC are in a less than pristine state, with pigeons having moved in. Although their condition is more intact than some other disused cinemas that have been “explored,” with crumbling ceilings and severe water damage—a word of warning—these videos are not for the faint of heart!
2019 outline planning application has been “approved in principle.”
Summary details as entered on Bournemouth’s planning database:
“Development and re-development, including partial retention of building including main facade at three levels on the Westover Road frontage to allow for the construction of 1,197sq.m. comparison retail floor space; 67 apartments, 68 car parking spaces, associated servicing facilities, refuse and cycle storage.”
Thanks for the namecheck CF100 :–) I stand corrected. Those (rather distressing!) urban explorer videos show a full Cinerama set-up in Screen 1. Five screen channels each with an Altec A4 Voice of the Theatre speaker system, with side wings. Japanese audiophiles would go nuts for this. Powered by Cinemeccanica C65 amplifiers with ‘transistors’. 30 watts per channel of pure Class B. I didn’t miss a zero! Classic road show rig and state of the art in 1969… Same video shows Gaumont 2: Vitavox centre channel still there…because when it opened it was mono.
its been given green light as insider tells me . i’ll have more exclusive on this once i know . at least the site now is going to be converted into flats . the facial front will remain intact from pictures i seen . guess now the pigeons will have to vacate
it seems uncertain again what is going on with this derelict cinema ? not that i care its closed down so . it seems pigeons have taken residence again so least the pigeons have a home which is positive thinking mind you , i like pigeons