The once Majestic Picture House

Image: © Gerald England Taken: 14 Feb 2012

Opening on 22 April 1920 with "The Forbidden City" and designed by Arnold England, the Majestic Picture House was part of the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (PCT) circuit. With 1,233 seats in stalls and balcony and a splendid facade faced in white faience tiles on two sides of the building on its prominent town centre corner site of Old Street and Delamere Street, the cinema was a great success. It had an oak panelled foyer which had beautiful coloured tapestries on the walls. The interior was in a Georgian style and it was equipped with a pipe organ and a separate tea room and cafe which were located on the upper floor. It passed, with all the other PCT houses to Gaumont British Theatres in 1929, but it was not until 12th July 1946 that it was renamed Gaumont. The Majestic Picture House was renovated in July 1936, with new seating installed and a re-decoration of the foyer and auditorium. A new Compton 3Manual/6Rank organ was installed that was opened by organist Con Docherty. Later being merged into the Rank Organisation, the Gaumont was re-named Odeon on 11th November 1962. It was eventually sold to an independent operator who renamed it the Metro Cinema from 6th November 1981. With capacity now down to 946 seats, the Metro Cinema continued as a single screen operation until the middle of 2003. In 2008 (with seats and screen intact) the building was unused except for the long foyer area, linking the front and back elevations of the Metro, which was a Slotworld Amusement Arcade. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/23553 Slotworld closed in 2010 and the building is currently (February 2012) for sale with a price tag of £1.2m.

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