Report - Futurist Cinema, Liverpool, May 2016

[Speed]

I'd buy the frontage if i had the space to store it. Build it somewhere else where it will be appreciated!

 

[ACID- REFLUX]

I'd buy the frontage if i had the space to store it. Build it somewhere else where it will be appreciated!

Obviously the "Daily mail" payout more than we were led to believe

For once i"m surprised that you"ve lacked the foresight for another epic "Daily Mail" feature ....."Ubex God" saves classic Cinema frontage, that now welcomes Garage customers as they drive through for attention

 

[Gone]

yeahh man, top work!

 

[Atomgrinder]

Was there anything remaining of the original proscenium arch behind the Todd AO conversion?

 

[stranton]

Was there anything remaining of the original proscenium arch behind the Todd AO conversion?

dont believe it ever had a proscenium arch,
demo'd now tho.

 

[Coxieboy]

Its gone, now the only thing left are photographs and memories. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/futurist-being-reduced-rubble-demolition-11831221 this is why 28DL is so important, and hopefully one day will be recognsed for it (there are UX groups I know).

 

[stranton]

thankyou for the recent info,

this was one of my favourite explores,
I am sure they could of kept the facade if they wanted too, really sad.

 

[The Kwan]

was over in town at the weekend and took this shot, it is going to be a premier inn.

 

[Coxieboy]

Because we need another permier inn in the centre of Liverpool.......

 

[dweeb]

Keep us in the loop on its development! !

 

[The Kwan]

Keep us in the loop on its development! !

will do

 

[meth]

That's a real shame, I remember looking over at it from the ABC and trying to crack it years ago. Nice to have seen the pictures from inside before it was destroyed though :-)

 

[stranton]

thought it maybe student residences, seems the thing nowadays.

 

[skgogosfan]

Well done for getting in there just at the right time! That purple colour scheme is fairly gloomy for a cinema - you'd think it would be brighter. As the kwan's pic shows,both it and the adjacent Scala have followed the Palais De Luxe opposite into oblivion ; only one of Lime St's four cinemas now remain. Sad though it is to see it go,I read the engineer's report about it and it was quite clear it was beyond saving for both safety and economic reasons ; those pix of the auditorium's collapsed roof speak for themselves. On the plus side the ABC has had the planning application go in for its conversion to an entertainment venue at last,so perhaps we'll see something happen by Xmas.

you seen the Carlton at Tuebrook

I went past that the other week - it was strange that it was still there as I read it was going to be demo'd last year. Stranger still was that the scaffolding around it [as seen on Street View] has been removed. IDK what's going on with it.

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.

That's interesting - I wondered what the reasoning was behind EH declining to list it.

If anybody wants to read the masterplan for Lime St btw,it's here : http://www.limestreetfuture.com

There's also a report on the Scala in its last identity as an,um,"gentlemen's club" : https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/x-in-the-city-liverpool-april-2016.t102603

Dave.