Description

The following building shall be added:

SD 33 NW BLACKPOOL DICKSON ROAD
(east side)

44- /2/10001 Odeon Cinema

II

Odeon cinema. 1938-9 by Robert Bullivant of the firm Harry Weedon and Partners. Steel
frame clad in brick, with white and green faience to front and black faience to lower part
of left side elevation. Roof not seen. Rectangular double-height plan with corner tower.
Auditorium originally for 1,800 seats in stalls and single circle, with foyers on both levels;
subdivided in 1975 to form two 200-seat mini-cinemas and projection box under circle. The
main auditorium comprises the original circle, front stalls, proscenium, stage and surrounds.
Main facade a series of planes etched with narrow bands, centred on five lancets with metal
casements under ODEON sign. Cornice band striped in green faience. Square corner tower
set back to right side, also faience-clad, fluted at top under ODEON signs to each face.
Original canopy over ground floor. Side elevation of banded brick and tile, stepped down
to rear. Ground floor clad in black faience under original queue canopy running the full
length of the facade and now a rare feature on a cinema. Auditorium has stage but no fly
tower. Proscenium with fluted, streamlined surround, flanked by decorative screens masking
ventilation chambers. Ceiling with moulded cyma decoration ascends in six steps from the
anteproscenium screen, incorporating two bands of decorative vents and service ducts to pairs
of pendant lights. Rear projection box now disused. Original pendant wall-lights, six to
either side. Dado panelling and veneered barriers, moulded circle front. Original doors with
tiny viewing panes under chrome bars. The front of the stalls with original exit doors but
now unseated. Circle foyer retains some original seating but has been repanelled and
converted to a bar. Included as a remarkably complete surviving Odeon cinema, with many
original features now rare elsewhere.

Sources:
Rosemary Clegg, Odeon, 1985.
The Ideal Kinema, 22 June 1939

Listing NGR: SD3088536639

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Odeon, Dickson Road, Blackpool official website
• Funny Girls at Wikipedia
• Funny Girls official website
• Wikidata IDs Q26519508 Q5509368

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
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