Odeon Portsmouth
94 London Road, North End,
Portsmouth,
PO2 0SZ
94 London Road, North End,
Portsmouth,
PO2 0SZ
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 13 comments
Sainsbury’s have gone, and it is now Minutka - a Polish deli - the building is in a very sorry state
former Odeon North End
The foyer is now a Sainsburys. Absolutely nothing of note is visible in there.
Many happy memories of this place, my regular haunt as a teenage lad from 1990 until 2001 when I moved away from the Portsmouth area. It’s very sad to hear of the Odeon’s demise – inevitable after Gunwharf opened I suppose. Modern multiplexes may have their advantages (I’m as guilty as the next person of using them) but they have no soul or character – the Odeon North End had both of these in abundance.
BTW Some great pictures posted here of the Odeon in her better days!
Three interior pictures taken in 1986 here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4962667577/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4963264628/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4962667957/
Sad pictures of decaying screening room 4:
View link
View link
View link
Two March 2009 photos here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3370131728/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3369308631/
I cannot believe that Portsmouth City Council will alow this building to be demolished – Northend will never be the same without it. Surely it should be listed – as should the Carlton at Cosham? So many buildings like this have already been lost and these are the very last surviving ones in Portsmouth. The only cinemas left now are modern multiplexes in Port Solent and Gunwharf. Multiplexes are not real cinemas.
What a tragedy!
A legend closed in Portsmouth tonight. Will Smith’s “I Am Legend” was the last film screened. The next action will be demolition for yet more shops and flats. Closure was originally scheduled for 15th November 2007, but a couple of reprieves with a bumper Christmas program kept the landmark building open into this new year. With fond memories of superb 70mm presentations through the sixties, such as: “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Doctor Zhivago”, “The Sound of Music”, “Cleopatra”, “Those Magnificent Men …”, etc., it’s goodbye to a another piece of UK cinemas history.
A current photograph can be found here:–
View link
Some vintage (1986!) interior and exterior photos of the Odeon Portsmouth here:–
View link
View link
This theatre has had more than one stay of execution already in recent months, and is currently set to close at the end of the year. A shame, as this comes hot on the heels of the Carlton Cosham’s closure, resulting in the loss of two Art Deco gems within a few miles of each other. Screen One is still an impressive auditorium to see a film, of a size fast dissapearing from the Odeon circuit. Grab a film while you can!.