Rex Cinema

Located in the Eastmoor district to the north of the centre of Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The Coliseum Cinema opened in November 1920. It was converted to sound in early-1930 when a Brown sound system was installed and showing its first sound film, “The Broadway Melody” on 21st April 1930. In 1933 the cinema was acquired by Walter Eckart’s Star Cinemas group, based in Leeds. Following a £2,000 transformation, which included a new screen and new Kalee projectors with British Thomson-Houston(BTH) sound, it re-opened as the Star Cinema on 4th December 1933 with Laurel & Hardy in “Fra Diavolo”. In 1945 Star Cinemas sold the cinema to Park Row Cinemas Ltd. for £2,000. Its name was changed to the Rex Cinema.

The Rex Cinema closed on 7th February 1959 with, rather ironically, “The Killing”, starring Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray. It became a ballroom, the Rex Rendezvous, before moving over to bingo in 1966 when it was taken over by Bartle Enterprises. By December 1998, when my photograph was taken, it had become the Rex Snooker and Pool Club.

By 2012 it had become the Vegas Sports Bar, and the façade has been covered with metal cladding. In October 2020 the vacant building was ‘For Sale’.

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