The Hippodrome

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The Hippodrome

The Hippodrome is a cinema building in the Scottish town of Bo'ness in the Falkirk Council Area . In 1979 the building was included in the Scottish monument lists, initially in category B. The upgrade to the highest category A took place in 2004.

history

The local organizer Louis Dickson commissioned the construction of a cinema building in 1911. The building was completed the following year and opened on March 11, 1912. As an architect, Matthew Steele was responsible for the design, who planned various formative buildings in Bo'ness. The round shape in connection with the name Hippodrom suggests a conception as a multi-purpose building, which should also offer space for circus or variety events. However, the presence of a projection room in the earliest plans and the project name "Picture Palace" indicate the focus on the showing of films, making the Hippodrome the oldest surviving and purpose-built building in Scotland. After a short time it was used exclusively as a movie theater. Dickson also showed there self-produced films on regional topics, some of which are now in the Scottish film archive.

The Caledonian Associated Cinemas , which operated the cinema in 1947, hired their house architect, Alex Cattenach of Kingussie, to modernize the building. In the course of this, the screen was enlarged, ladies' toilets were set up and the orchestra pit was removed. The hippodrome was used as a bingo hall in the 1970s and was empty in the 1980s. After being listed on the Scotland List of Endangered Listed Structures, the Falkirk Regional Council set up a £ 5 million budget to restore historic buildings in Bo'ness, which also financed the renovation of the Hippodrome. From 2006 the cinema was equipped with contemporary technology and reopened in 2008. The restoration work was carried out very carefully and numerous details in the interior have been preserved in the original.

description

The renovated hall in 2012

The Hippodrome occupies a prominent position at the confluence of several streets in the north of Bo'ness. Stylistically, it shows numerous features of the burgeoning architecture of the New Building . It consists of a circular main building, from which various additions extend towards North Street . On the left is the two-story foyer with the ticket offices, added in 1926 by John Taylor . The upper floor and the final dome, however, date from 1936. The wood paneling inside the foyer, which was removed from a ship that was stranded in the area, also dates from this year. The facades are plastered with Harl . A gallery with 215 seats, which rests on cast-iron pillars, runs around the round event room . The parquet offers 510 visitors a seat.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ Entry on The Hippodrome  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  3. ↑ BBC News: New beginning for historic cinema , February 15, 2008.

Web links

Coordinates: 56 ° 1 ′ 3.2 ″  N , 3 ° 36 ′ 29.7 ″  W.