Coliseum Cinema

Located in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the Public Hall was built in 1867 for the Airdrie Public Hall Company Limited.

(Sir) Frank Benson made his first appearance as an actor/manager on 8th May 1883 as a member of the Walter Bentley Company, which Benson later took over.

The Public Hall hosted concerts, bands, numerous meetings, and entertainments run by the Good Templars.

At the turn of the century Bioscope pictures were added, and by 1911 it was part of a circuit of picture houses run by J. J. Bennell. He was from Manchester, and had been a travelling salesman for Sidney Carter’s Pictures.

In the 1914 edition of the Kinematograph Year Book the venue was simply referred to as the Public Hall.

By 1927 it had been renamed the Coliseum Cinema. The lessee was L. J. Pennycook, while the resident manager was Robert Pennycook.

By 1935 the proprietor was Mrs L. E. Porter. Occasional variety shows were booked by the MacDonald Standard Variety Agency, Glasgow. There were 780 seats. The proscenium was 23ft wide, the stage 24ft deep and there were four dressing rooms. A Film Industries sound system had been installed.

In 1938 the Coliseum Cinema was acquired by M. and I. B. Allen, who re-named it the La Scala Cinema. Perhaps they also carried out some improvement/modernisation works, as there were now said to be 700 seats. The following year this was revised to a more precise 692 seats - although by 1943 this had (reportedly) risen to 772. By 1952 it had reduced to 680.

There is no listing of the La Scala Cinema in the 1954 Kinematograph Year Book. One source maintains that the building was destroyed by fire in 1957. However, another says it was demolished in 1953 after a fire. Bearing in mind the Kinematograph Year Book entries, the latter is the more likely.

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