La Scala Cinema
10 Station Road,
Grangemouth,
FK3 8DG
10 Station Road,
Grangemouth,
FK3 8DG
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Architects: Alister Gladstone MacDonald
Previous Names: Electric Empire Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located at Charing Cross at the corner of B'ness Road and Station Road in Grangemouth. Originally opened as the Electric Empire Cinema on 13th December 1913.
It re-opened as La Scala Cinema in June 1916. Partially re-built when sound was indroduced in 1930, it suffered some damage from a a fire in 1952 and again in 1962.
The La Scala Cinema closed in 1971 and was converted into an independenly operated bingo club, which operated as the Carlton Bingo Club until 2006, when it was closed. One of the reasons given was the new law banning smoking in public places.
On 2nd May 2007, Historic Scotland designated the La Scala a Grade C(s) Listed building.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
To clarify some of the info above, the hall was purpose-built as the Empire Electric Theatre, rather than being a conversion. That name is carved into the facade above the door – a feature hidden until bingo signage was recently removed. Some rudimentary stage facilities reportedly still exist in void areas behind the current stage. It closed as a bingo hall in 2006, with the company operating it blaming the smoking ban which had just been introduced in Scotland that year. Despite being listed as recently as May 2007, less than a year later, the council and their developing partners have purchased the building with the intention to demolish it, and build a new library, museum and elevated walkway on the site, to better link the new Asda supermarket behind the building to the existing high street. The architect of some of the later alterations to the building is said to be Alister G. MacDonald (spelling of his forename varies!), son of former Labour prime minister Ramsey MacDonald, who was best-known for designing the newsreel cinemas in London’s Victoria and Waterloo stations, as well as the Elgin Playhouse and the Broadway in Prestwick.
More info and pics here:
View link