Not the best Art Deco it has to be said, but the interior was plush and the details were really fine. Lamps and decor. But I do not know if they survived the bingo time? All that fine etched glass and door framing. A really classy cinema it was.
I worked for 40 years in an architectural practice (we never did get it right), and there was a better design done by my boss uncle - which was not accepted. However, I did like the interior. The wall lamps were something special. I wonder what crapola will be built here to embellish that which has been already thrust upon us from a great height. And no I have not been at the nettle wine.
Is nothing sacred? by that I do not mean in the religious way, its just that I was born a few doors down from this building, it formed part of my young and early teenage life as I am sure it did others around the town. I cannot beleive that there is not one person to take up the cudgel to save this building. I know the exterior design is very cold for the Art Deco period. But as Treeve has pointed out, the fittings inside iwas or hopefully still is, an absolute treasure of that period design. I know the great organ has been removed and as I have not crossed its threshold since the 1970 s, a lot of fine artifacts may be missing. But cannot someone save what there is, if not the building, then the soul of what lit our way and made us want to be there??
I agree with you treeve in that I have seen better externally so I was not too bothered when they said they were going to pull it down. However, since Golowan I have changed my mind. Knowing the accoustics are a lot better than St Johns Hall it would make a good theatre/entertainment venue. Remember The Pavillion before it became a casino. The Wild West Shows!
The point about St John s Hall was that someone not in their right mind reversed the stage and auditorium, the other point was that it was intended as a general purpose room. The original was never particularly good acoustically, but I went to a number of Orchestral Society concerts, suitably impressed with the music, with the exception of the lead violin, but that had nothing to do with the internal architecture. The Ritz, on the other hand, was designed with both cinema and acoustics in mind. To pull it down or even consider it is nothing short of lunacy. My father always said that there were more out of asylums than in them (referring to the powers that be ).
St Johns Hall was designed with baffles above that could adjusted for differant music situations, I have played there several times over the years with bands and the acoustics have always been c..p. I agree that the ritz was designed for acoustics and soun control and would be an ideal place for further arts/concert etc. applications.
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