New Wine Church - John Wilson Street, Woolwich, London, UK
N 51° 29.600 E 000° 03.655
31U E 295980 N 5708783
This building was constructed as a cinema in 1937 for the Odeon group. It changed cinema owners a couple of times before becoming the New Wine Church.
Waymark Code: WMG1NX
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/02/2013
Views: 6
Wikipedia tells us [visit link] tells us in
the New Wine Church entry about the building:
"The cinema which can be described
as a beautiful state-of-the-art facility was opened as the Odeon Theatre on 25
October 1937 with Ralph Reader in "The Gang Show". It was designed for the Oscar
Deutsch chain of Odeon Theatres by architect George Coles who came up with a
splendid streamline Art Deco style. The exterior looked stunning at night as it
was outlined in neon tubing.
Inside the auditorium there were
troughs of concealed lighting and a molded plaster decoration on the splay
walls in the form of a floral frieze which had back-lighting. Seating was
provided for 1,178 in the stalls and 650 in the balcony.
It was modernized internally in May
1964, a process known as the Rank Organization's 'zing' treatment. It continued
as the Odeon until closing on 17 October 1981. Independent film exhibitors
Panton Films took over the building from 14 July 1983 and it re-opened as the
Coronet Cinema with "Star Wars:Episode VI - Return of the Jedi". It was
converted into a twin cinema from 6 July 1990 with seating for 678 in the former
balcony and 360 seats in the former rear stalls. The Coronet was closed on 6
June 1999.
It was taken over by the New Wine
Church from 2001 and the building is now known as Gateway House which continues
in church use today. The New Wine Church has made a number of alterations and
renovations to the building. The building is a Grade II Listed
Building."
As mentioned, the building is Grade II
and the entry at the English Heritage website [visit
link] tells us:
"Built in 1937. Architect George
Coles. THe best surviving example of the "Odeon" style. Unaltered interior with
a free use of art-deco motif's around the
proscenium."