Odeon Cinema (formerly Paramount Theatre), Manchester
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The Paramount Theatre was built in 1930 to the designs of architects Frank T. Verity & Samuel Beverley for the U.K. arm of the American Paramount Theatres chain
The Manchester Paramount Theatre was a sumptuous American import, opened with suitable pomp and ceremony on Monday 16th October 1930
Sumptuous and colossal with a seating capacity of 3000, the local press described it as the ‘last word in sound cinematograph entertainment’
They had to turn away over a thousand people on its famous opening night, which pulled out all the stops with a big US release The Love Parade,
as well as presenting variety acts, a ‘parade of beauty’ (starlets from the American studio), and the Paramount organ, which dramatically rose up through the stage on the left of the screen
More lavish and luxurious than other Manchester venues, the Paramount soon became a Mecca for picture goers, regularly scooping up all the biggest and best new releases,
especially those from the Paramount studios, and being the first to offer innovations such as techicolor and wide screen
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By 1940 however Paramount had sold off some of its UK cinemas to the Odeon circuit and so it suddenly became the Odeon
Remaining one of the most popular city centre cinemas well into the 1960’s, successfully complementing its screenings with occasional live concerts, such as the Beach Boys & The Beatles; with its long demise started in the 1970's
Like many other picture houses, this was the era that saw successive attempts to lure an audience, seduced into home entertainment with the introduction of television, back into the cinema
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The Theatre was twinned in 1973 splitting the auditorium into two on the balcony and stalls levels, then triplexed in 1979, with a further 4 screens added in 1992 using the basement and stage areas
With each adaptation there was a commensurate loss in the original grandeur and architectural integrity of the design
By the end of its life the resulting seven screens were no bigger than many suburban sitting rooms and the introduction of the mega complexes in the 1990's were the last straw for the old guard
Despite all this when it closed in 2004 the theatre still retained its orchestra pit, stage, and proscenium, and its ceiling and foyer areas were still partly intact, even though much of it was hidden
The final curtain came down on the Odeon on Thursday, 2nd of September 2004; It's closure mainly due to competition from the AMC Great Northern 16, which had opened nearby in December 2001
The building has now been earmarked for demolition as plans to build a 14 storey office block next to the One St. Peters Square new build which is well under way
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We recently climbed the bigger of the two tower cranes at One St. Peters Square, and whilst up there contemplated whether we should ever bother with the Cinema..
Due to lack of motivation to set about the place I had all but given up however FFWD a few weeks and I read a recent
rumour that some kind of work had started on the place ?
Hmm, we decided to go and have a look and see for ourselves what was going on, as according to the plans work isn't supposed to be starting until next year
In reality all they have done is cordon it off, remove the front canopy and nailed some advertising hoarding along the front elevation
We managed to find some motivation to set about tackling the place, which in the end was a bit of a faff whilst lit up like an xmas tree and being bit to death by midges
I forgot my tripod (
again) and somehow managed to fetch out the wrong lens, so many of the pics were taken on the phone in the end (sorry)
Please excuse the shonky quality and lack of pics I would have otherwise like to have offered here
We saw far more than I bothered to take pics of, the place is huge once inside, also watch out, the main entrance/foyer area is reputed to be belled up, I did see Pir's so steered well clear
It's also riddled with asbestos, infact from start to finish the place is death on a stick
Still we managed to get in and see it for ourselves finally before it really is curtains for the place...