Luton Savoy/Cannon/ABC - May 2014

Landie_Man · May 29, 2014

Situated in my favourite town in the world……….

….Is this wonderful, old school cinema which is long past it unfortunately. I expected this to be a hell of a lot worse than it actually was. Its smashed, trashed, stripped and totally pillaged but its a nice 2 hours or so.

The 1,892 seat Savoy Cinema opened on George Street (a main town centre thoroughfare) on 17 October 1938. It was designed by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) in-house architect William R. Glen and immediately assummed the leading position in the ABC cinemas in town (the Empire Cinema closed two days earlier, but the Alma Cinema and Union Cinema continued for many years).
It closed in April 1971 for tripling and emerged as a three screen complex in September 1971. There were 632 seats in Screen 1 (former circle) and 458 and 272 in screens 2 & 3 (former stalls).
It was renamed Cannon in April 1986. When a new 10-screen Cineworld multiplex opened just a short walk down the street in 1998, the Cannon continued for another two years, finally closing in November 2000. It has lain empty since, despite several plans to establish an arts centre / theatre in the building.

Info Quoted from Cinema Treasures @
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6248

A miserable day in a miserable town but a good(ish) explore!

As you will see in these photos; these cinemas were “refurbished” and many of the lovely old features were hidden behind a suspended ceiling which has thankfully mostly fallen away now, revealing whats underneath.

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img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/14106702358_9363544067_b.jpg[/img]

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More At:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/landie_man/sets/72157644484459850/

The Wombat · May 29, 2014

thats pretty good
good ceiling features here

AgentTintin · May 30, 2014

It's in pretty good nick for something that closed 14 years ago

Great report!

flyboys90 · May 30, 2014

Great find, some nice features still intact thanks for showing.

UrbanX · May 30, 2014

Nice one, whats with the mud floor in the last shot?!
Great pics as usual!

Onmyown · May 30, 2014

Nice shots there fella, thanks for sharing

Imanupstart · Jun 11, 2014

So sad to see it like this, I remember going to watch Star Wars there! Lots of talk over the years of restoring it but the council would rather waste money on a guided busway. Cheers for posting this!

Palitoy78 · Aug 18, 2014

Yeah,i remember seeing Return of the Jedi here way back in 83. Last film i watched there was Star Wars episode 1. I still live in Luton and walk past it very often. Id love to know how people get access to places like this

it would be good to pay a visit and revisit memories

Jay3009 · Sep 10, 2014

Amazing.

This looks awesome I remember seeing this place. How did you get in? Wouldn't it be hard? I'd love to visit this place.

clinka · Sep 11, 2014

I remember my mates sister taking me and him there to watch Back to the Future! Later on in life, me and the future Mrs Clinka would visit, get our tickets,pop up the bar for a few wet ones before taking our seats and watching the film. A little trip down memory lane there - thankyou. Some great shots especially for those that would have been hidden behind the sus ceiling. Don't suppose you saw evidence of the bar area? I cant remember which screen, but it used to be on the left, halfway up the stairs.

(I watched Star Wars IV at the Odeon in Bury Park - don't get down that far much so not sure of that building has also been abandoned. I recall it was bingo hall after a cinema, but not much since then)!

Luton Savoy/Cannon/ABC - May 2014

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