The Abbeydale Picture House

Story

Abbeydale Picture House is a former cinema in the City of Sheffield, England. When opened by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield on 20 December 1920 the picture house was the largest and most luxurious cinema in Sheffield, often referred to as the "Picture Palace" because of the luxurious cream and gold colour scheme, and dark mahogany seats trimmed with green velvet. The picture house also boasted many intricate decorations and carvings, a mosaic floor in the foyer and a glass canopy with a marble pillar to the outside of the building.The first film to be shown was The Call of the Road . The cinema had seating for 1,560 people and also included a ballroom and a billiard hall . Cine-variety played a major role at the Abbeydale until 1930 and the arrival of the "talkies" talking films; from this time the stage was used purely to house the sound equipment. In the mid-1950s the cinema was purchased by the Star Cinema Group which decorated the entire building and installed new projection and sound equipment, including a wide screen.The cinema closed on 5 July 1975 and was subsequently used as an office furniture showroom until 1991. In 1989 the building was given a Grade II listing by English Heritage being a good example of an early 1920s mid-sized suburban cinema with both cinema and theatre facilities. In 1991 the sprung floor in the ballroom was removed, and local businesses "Abbey Snooker" and "Bar Abbey" occupied the site.In 2003 the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House—boasting patrons including Michael Palin, Peter Stringfellow and the John Lewis Partnership—was formed to "restore and manage the 'Picture Palace' as a community centre for the performing arts and visual media." The group took ownership of the building on 21 December 2005 and re-opened it in September 2008 following a restoration of the auditorium and installation of a new stage.