Report - Futurist Cinema, Liverpool, May 2016

[kevsy21]

Well done for doing it.

 

[stranton]

thanks all

 

[stranton]

The whole of Lime Streets closed to traffic now,
so demo seems imminent.

 

[Ojay]

thanks for the thread updates

 

[scrappy]

well done, I saw the scaffolding and didnt get time to do it. When I went back it had gone. So glad someone got to see it but I'm going to cry in a corner now after missing such a chance.

 

[stranton]

I left the building 1/2 hr before the contractors came on,
the scaffolding was all gone 2 hrs later.

 

[CureForPain]

Nice job, every time I walk past I take a quick look at those padlocked wooden doors, insane that you managed to nail the timing! Looks like you had a really good explore and managed to get some decent shots under pressure.

The Futurist saga is an absolute shitshow though, they're tried every dirty trick to try and get the place pulled down. All that 'unsafe structure' closing the street stuff was basically made-up bullshit, by the sounds of Ed Morton's review. Hope they win the court battle and the frontage gets kept. That said, the interior's honestly in better nick than I expected - thought it'd be barely recognisable as a cinema inside.

 

[stranton]

recognisable, but in a bad way.

 

[Mini nut]

Very good report me old china, but god, what a mess!

 

[Almost_Over]

Great explore... and another grand old part of UK theatre heritage is about to bite the dust :-(
Love all the old electrics and equipment in there!

 

[ALAN ROBERTS]

Does anyone know what condition the Scala is in which is to the right of the Futurist. Only asking as my dad was projectionist at all 3 ABC cinema's over along period of time. ALAN

 

[stranton]

Does anyone know what condition the Scala is in which is to the right of the Futurist. Only asking as my dad was projectionist at all 3 ABC cinema's over along period of time. ALAN

its in the process of becoming an entertainment venue

 

[ACID- REFLUX]

See i told you that Derps is the way to go M8ty

Well done & glad to finally see it after listening to you moaning about it for weeks on end Fortune favours the brave

Pics came out better than i expected (considering the equipment & conditions) & it certainly looks better than the last cinema we did

 

[True_British_Metal]

I'm gutted after all the times I tried to get in I never did, even going as far as to use a ladder round the back and begging the owners for access a few years ago. (two seperate occasions BTW) At the same time it's such a relief that one of us did get in and do a proper survey on the place which I thought would never get done. I know it wasn't the greatest cinema in the country, but for me personally there was something about it given that there were some nice details inside plus it closed well beyond the average closure for a derelict cinema at the time.

I also sent a message to the council about whether it was listed or not, and got an extract from the English Heritage report in 2000, when they did a "nationwide thematic review of cinemas", to quote a building conservation officer from LCC:
EXCERPT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE LISTING DECISION 28 JUNE 2000



The Futurist Cinema was built in 1912 as the Picture House, and was an exceptionally rich and lavish design for this early date. It was also extremely large for its date, with over a thousand seats. It was clearly an unusually important cinema for this early date, and this has made its assessment unusually difficult. The difficulty is that while the plasterwork that does survive, particularly in the foyer and in the ceiling of the auditorium, is of great richness, on balance too much has been altered to make the building listable. The proscenium, boxes and balcony front have all been removed, presumably when cinemascope was installed in 1954. The present proscenium is sufficiently wide and unmoulded to suggest this. The exterior has also been very altered at ground level. The most baffling alteration has been to the top of the building - presumably the present pediment, not shown in the early photographs supplied, was added in the 1920s.


In all, this was once an important building, and its case has been considered very carefully; however, too many of the original features have been lost, particularly from the auditorium, to make the building listable in its present form. Had either the auditorium or the exterior survived in its original form a case could have been made, but that both have been significantly altered renders the building unlistable on the present criteria.

The council also said that a subsequent request for 'spot listing' by the City Council some 10 years was also unsuccessful.

 

[The Kwan]

The Demo started today, there were closed roads and just the day after the save Britains heritage appeal failed
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/demolition-futurist-cinema-start-tonight-11696475