Birmingham Palladium Cinema - Aug '09

[Derelict-UK]

Opened in 1911 as the Hockley Picture House, this cinema has had a varied life.

It was re-built, enlarged and re-named in 1922 as the New Palladium and in 1927 later shortened to the Palladium.

Between 1962-1965 it closed and was later used as a bingo hall up until the early 1980's.

In the 90's it was bought by the current owner who used part of it as a sewing factory, but quickly moved to new premises and used the cinema as a storage area for clothes.

It is currently for sale for £650,000 and has 3 main parties interested.
One being a church group who have planning permission to turn it into a monastery and are now in the process of trying to gather the funds for the sale. There is also another buyer who would like to convert it into a community hall.

Both options (although I don't know of the 3rd) I am happy for it to be converted into, at least it is not planned to be bulldozed or converted into flats!

The structure is sound, a few holes here and there but it seems all surfaces and floors were made from concrete and just need a good bit of plastering, nothing too drastic.

Showing moving image on a large screen to the residents of the Hockley area. It's grand interior was designed with lovely art deco fittings and fixtures also, mini stained glass windows. Originally it seated around 900 people.

Picture from what is originally looked like as a cinema...



Picture of what one of its many fronts once looked like...



When the cinema closed, the bottom floor was converted into a bingo hall, the seats were taken away and a new floor put in.

Before the flyover was built opposite, here is another old photo of it...



During the construction of the flyover, the Palladium is on the right...



(all old images are taken from various posts on the Birmingham History Forum)

Right, enough babble, onto the images

(Due to the guided visit, I could not take my usual tripod kit, so all images are either with flash or hand held without.)...





A close up of all the old names it once had...


























Continued in next post...

To enquire about this or other properties in the area...



Ray Kanwar
T: 0121 554 9000
F: 0121 554 0533