Coliseum Picture House

Located in Wallasey on the Wirral, Cheshire. The Cosmo Cinema was opened on 12th May 1913 with “For the Honour of the 7th”. There were two shops on each side of the entrance, which was topped by a large glass dome. Seating was provided for 700, all on a single floor. In 1924 a 40ft deep stage, with stage house and nine dressing rooms was built and it re-opened as the Coliseum Theatre on 24th June 1924. However stage use was not a success, and it reverted back to films from Easter Monday 1925 and re-named Wallasey Picture House. Baby Peggy in “The Family Secret” was the re-opening film.

By February 1927 it was named the Coliseum Picture House. By 1929 it was presenting stage shows and a movie in its programming. It was operated by the Bootle based George Prince Circuit. On 24th March 1930 it was equipped with a British Thomson-Houston(BTH) sound system, opening with Bessie Love in “The Broadway Melody”. In 1931 it was announced that one of the big cinema chains were planning to enlarge the cinema to 1,500 seats, but the plans came to nothing.

The Coliseum Picture House was closed due to war-time condition on 9th November 1940, with Jack Buchanan in “Middle Watch” being the closing film. It was said to be only a temporary closure, but in March 1941 the stage house of the building suffered a direct hit by a German bomb which caused extensive damage, and the remains of the building were demolished soon afterwards as it was deemed unrepairable.

In 1951 the Phoenix Cinema was built on the site (which has its own page on Cinema Treasures).

By 2017 housing has been built on the site.

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