Plaza Cinema
Cross Lane,
Great Horton,
Bradford,
BD7 3JT
Cross Lane,
Great Horton,
Bradford,
BD7 3JT
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Star Cinemas
Functions: Community Center, Retail
Styles: Art Nouveau
Previous Names: Cross Lane Picture House
Nearby Theaters
The Cross Lane Picture House opened on 28th September 1914 with “The Scales of Justice”. It has an attractive stone facade, and the auditorium is parallel to Cross Lane. The proscenium was 21 feet wide, and there were two dressing rooms.
It was re-named Plaza Cinema in 1933. The Plaza Cinema was later taken over by the Star Cinemas chain, based in Leeds, and was closed on 20th March 1963 with Ray Milland in “The Premature Burial”.
It was converted into a Lucky Diamond Bingo Club in April 1963. This was closed in 1980 but later re-opened as the Royal Bingo Club. In 2010, the building was converted into the Joshua Project, serving as a community facility for disaffected youth, giving advice and help as well as providing leisure facilities. The Joshua Project closed in September 2016.
A really nice local cinema. I used to go on Saturday mornings, built of red brick, with a small entrance foyer. Nice and comfortable, with double seats at the back, which were popular with young courting couples. By 2023 it was in use as an Emmaus charity shop for the homeless a & volunteers community centre.
Contributed by
Donald Rumbold, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Photographed as the Royal Bingo Club in February 2008:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/2267560336/
There is additional information about this theatre on this webpage.
The façade isn’t stone. The walls behind the projection room and along the exposed auditorium flank are of red brick (unusual for 1914 Bradford) with white faïence details to door and window lintels, etc; the (now decapitated) entrance feature is white faïence, and the rear of the stage is of Bradford sandstone. I recall the roof originally being slate, but could be wrong.
The mid-1950s cinemascope screen was within a rectangular box proscenium erected in front of the (now exposed) classical proscenium. It extended between the two corners at which the wall steps back to form recesses for exits. The new tabs were pale bluey/green. Those in the original proscenium were, in early 1950s, red with three horizontal gold stripes towards the bottom. Later in the 50s the auditorium was redecorated and new ceiling lamps fitted (giving a rather stark light); and splayed boards were inserted between the side corners of the new proscenium and the side walls, with gaps beneath for access to the exits.
I, too, went to the Saturday 10 a.m. children’s matinee. It was not the packed rowdy house that the repeat was at 2 p.m. (Also, if money was available, I could then go to the 2 p.m. children’s matinee at The Grange further down Great Horton Road.)
UPDATE – The Joshua Project closed in September 2016. I am not aware of any plans being announced for the building.
Now in use, as of 2023, as a charity shop/volunteer centre called ‘My Impact Centre’.