June 2016
This place has had many names over the years The Plaza, The Gaunt, The Apollo and finally the M Club. The place has been on my list for a long time and with the Demo crews moving in on the site this week I decided it was time to pay it a visit. Visited with @Shimmy5305 a few times last month and over the few days we saw a lot of the inside of the building change, a lot of walls from the backstage area have been removed and the raised floor in the main club has been removed exposing the original sloped floor from the cinema.
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The Queen’s Hall was opened on 29th December 1910. Seating was provided for 700. It was equipped with a Western Electric sound system in January 1930 and was re-named New Queen’s Cinema with a screening of “Showboat”. It was taken over by the J.F. Emery Circuit in 1931 and closed on 27th May 1933 to be demolished.
The new Plaza Cinema was built on an adjoining site. It opened on 11th November 1933 with Clive Brook in “Cavalcade”. Seating was provided for 1,400 in stalls and circle levels. There was a cafe for the convenience of its patrons.
In 1954, the Plaza Cinema became the first in Crewe to be fitted with CinemaScope, opening with Richard Burton in “The Robe”. The screen was 40 feet wide. On 12th December 1955 it was taken over by the Rank Organisation and was re-named Gaumont. The Gaumont was closed on 12th August 1961 with James Stewart in “Two Rode Together” and “A Question of Suspense”.
It was converted into the Majestic Ballroom, it was converted into a Top Rank Bingo Club from 8th August 1965. By 1971, it had been sold to the Hutchinson bingo group. Upon the death of Mr. A. Hutchinson, the company was sold to Apollo Leisure who converted the former circle and circle foyer into a 3-screen cinema, now known as the Apollo Cinema, with bingo continuing in the former stalls. The original Plaza Cinema projection box was used for the two 100-seat screens in the former circle and the 93-seat cinema in the former café/circle foyer. The opening films on 24th May 1990 were “Uncle Buck”, “King of the Wind” and “Leviathan”. The Apollo Cinema was closed on 1st December 2005.
There were plans of turning the building into an entertainment centre in late-2006 and it became a concert venue known as the M Club operating in the former stalls/bingo club area. In addition to this Screen 1 was converted into a recording studio. The club was also home to the main studio for the local radio station CAT FM. That closed in 2010 and the building stands unused after being purchased by Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, who have plans to demolish and build a new supermarket. Although these plans fell quiet shortly after TESCO announced plans to build a new superstore directly across the road from what would be the main Entrance to the Sainsbury’s store. The building has stood empty ever since and has changed hands several times. In June 2016 the site next to the building was cleared ready to commence demolition work on the building.
[1] - The front of the building in January 2015
[2] - Entrance to the cellar/ under stage area of the building.
[3] - The main bar in the night club.
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[5] - The M Club stage in the background, with a pile of the wood from the club/ bingo hall floor.
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[7] - The main stairway at the front of the building.
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[9] - Screen 3
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[11] - Spiral Staircase to the projection room.
[12] - The Projection Room for Screen 2 & 3.
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[14] - The rear of the building in January 2015.
http://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/local-news/the-last-picture-show-5644836
