THE HISTORY
This beautiful Art Deco cinema on the corner of Sittingbourne high street was opened by Odeon in 1937. In 2000 it was taken over by a smaller business and named the New Century Cinema. It is said to have a capacity of over 200 people but I'm not sure if this is before or after it was split into both cinema and bingo. So the original cinema building is split into Mecca bingo on the ground floor with a small section of roof access at the rear of the building, and the actual modern cinema which is on the upper floors. However, it took us a while to realise what was what and we didn't find a way into the cinema. The bingo hall closed in 2021, and the cinema closed in December 2022.
THE EXPLORE
Last night I was out in Kent with @JamesCross doing some after work after dark exploring. After finishing the sites we'd intended to check out, as we were driving through Sittingbourne I quickly remembered that several people had mentioned to me about the cinema there being closed down. We pulled over for a quick look and did a lap of the perimeter. To our surprise, we found access to be nice and easy and we were inside. I don't usually edit or post anywhere near this fast but I wanted to put it up before access changes so those that want to see it can.
We spent a little while shooting the bingo hall before looking around, and didn't find too many other rooms of much interest. We did however find a roof access which took us up to a view across a lively roundabout at one end of the high street and a brick and concrete rooftop building which I assume was some kind of plant room. It connected up to the rafters behind what would've been the stage where the bingo number board is. In here we found a few old signs which I think could even date to when this place was built judging by the aesthetics. All in all a cracking unexpected finish to a good night out.
Climbing up the roof access
Higher
Old chair arms
Access to the rafters
That's all guys
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