Colosseum Cinema

Philip Picturedrome on October 9, 2020 at 2:42 pm

Ken, please leave this separate from your description, then I can take the blame for any mistakes.

The correct spelling is COLOSSEUM.
It was the Colosseum Rink some time before 9 April 1909. I can’t confirm that W. Morris was the owner, but he was the “Proprietor” of the newly opened Royal Pavilion. (“Proprietor” is an ambiguous word that can have more than one meaning, and may not always indicate the actual owner. In fact, it was said that the business of the Royal Pavilion was bought by Arthur Dewhurst from William Osbaldstone.) It reopened as the Colosseum Picturedrome on 1 August 1911. (Source: Gazette-News for Blackpool, 1 August 1911). It’s not clear how long that lasted, but it was reported in the Blackpool Gazette (4 Feb., 1913) that it had been taken over by the C.W.S. (Co-operative Wholesale Society) to become an exhibition hall called the Coliseum (sic), which was opened on 29 June 1913. I’m afraid that’s as far as I got, because I was only photocopying the entertainment pages while I was in Blackpool Library.