Report - The Savoy Cinema & Stardust Bingo Hall_Kettering - October 2013

The devil child · Oct 4, 2013

Visited on my own, It was about 3:30 am and i couldn't sleep because my girlfriend and unborn son were in the hospital very unwell so i decided that after my last attempt with FaZy_UK which lead to us both being escorted off the premises by the wonderful local police that an early visit was necessary due to the residents being more nosey than Michael Kane and reporting every bit of movement!. Another place which i have very fond memories of being local to the place i even urbexed this roughly 15 years ago when it was immaculate untouched by vandals and no arson attacks access was completely different back then i really wish i had a camera but then again it would have been a film one because it was before camera phones and dslrs and i would have had no chance of getting 15 unblurred pics (i struggle with a digital slr

) I know this has been done before on here a few times but nothing in the past few years so heres my report before it gets knocked down. This is ruined now since my 1st visit many years ago but it has a lot of original features still intact and the flytower is still there which is pretty cool place as its a fair size its defo worth a mooch around but its very dangerous hole in floors and its pitch black in there and it nearly got me and is riddled with asbestos.

heres a bit of history taken from the Cinema Treasures site

The Savoy Cinema opened as a dual purpose cinema and theatre on 21st May 1938 with Spencer Tracey in â€œThe Big Cityâ€ plus a variety show on stage. It was erected on the same site as the Coliseum Theatre which opened in 1910 but housed in a building dating from 1903. In 1937 it burned to the ground.

The Savoy Cinema was a handsome replacement with 1,150 seats in the stalls and circle. There was a full stage with a flytower, and live performances were often presented, sometimes with a resident theatre company, for example the Northampton Repertory Company presented regular seasons here between 1949 and 1951. The stage was 43 feet wide, 23 feet deep and had a 60 feet high flytower. Backstage there were seven dressing rooms and a band room.

The facade was plain, but solid, and was outlined in neon. The interior was decorated with Grecian murals, had concealled lighting and elaborated ventilation grills down the sides and above the rectangular proscenium. It was a wide and reletively shallow house, which must have given it excellent sightlines. It was taken over by the Clifton Cinemas circuit on 25th Auguat 1944.

In 1968 the circle was split off and extended forward as a smaller cinema seating 485, called the Studio, whilst bingo took over the stalls and stage area. In 1973 this screen was split into two, seating 160 and 140 and known as Studio 1 & 2. After a short closure in 1986 they were re-opened as an independent and were renamed Ohio Cinema, which finally closed in 1997 after an Odeon Multiplex arrived in town.

Vandalised and empty, the former Savoy Cinema was slated for demolition and replacement with flats. The derelict cinema was badly damaged in an arson attack which took place in the early morning of 16th September 2011

The 1st 3 pictures are on my Samsung Galaxy S4 which were taken a few weeks ago the rest on the Nikon which im slowly getting used to now

External shots from a few weeks back

Report - The Savoy Cinema & Stardust Bingo Hall_Kettering - October 2013

The devil child

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