Former cinema in Morecambe awarded listed building status
The former Odeon cinema in Morecambe is now a Grade II listed building.
The Odeon on Euston Road which is currently 1st Stop DIY, was listed by the government on April 17.
Historic England said on their website: “The former Odeon cinema in Morecambe, a cinema of 1937 by William Calder Robson, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * the Morecambe Odeon is a striking, good-quality design with complex massing and streamlined and playful features characteristic of the Moderne style; * it is a good example of later Odeon cinema design, evolved by William Calder Robson from the initial house style developed by Cecil Clavering and Robert Bullivant; * the original design survives well overall, with a legible front-of-house plan, surviving back-of-house spaces (most notably the projector room), and many retained decorative features in plaster, timber and tiling.
The Twentieth Century Society, a charity which campaigns for outstanding buildings, said: “The former Odeon Cinema in Morecambe (1937), now operating as a hardware and bathroom supply shop, has been Grade II listed by DCMS following support from C20 Society.
“With a powerful urban presence that anchors the building as a gateway to the town, its striking and complex massing includes a slender round-ended tower, projecting flat roof and expressed high-level corridor.
"Though some external features have been boarded over or lost, the auditorium retains its proscenium arch with many original decorative finishes and characteristic Odeon style fixtures thought to remain, concealed by modern partitions, ceilings and floors.
“The Odeon company was formed in 1930 by Oscar Deutsch. Between 1936 and 1939 it opened 96 new cinemas in England, mostly in a distinctive Streamlined Moderne style influenced by German Expressionism, and usually with an exterior mixing brown brick with cream tiling.
"This ‘house style’ had been developed by Cecil Clavering and Robert Bullivant in the Birmingham architect’s firm of Harry Weedon and Partners, one of two firms which produced most of Odeon’s designs. Morecambe’s Odeon cinema was built in 1937, during a period of rapid expansion for the chain.
“The architect William Calder Robson designed seven Odeon’s for the practice Harry Weedon, three of which survive. Morecambe now joins Harrogate (1936) and Blackpool (1938-39) on the National Heritage List for England.”