trainee
The Plaza: 1930s Super Cinema Stockport
During our induction as Heritage Lottery Trainees we were lucky enough to be given a behind the scenes tour of The Plaza Cinema. The Plaza was built-in the early 1930s during the rise in popularity of the ‘super cinema’, hosting both cinema and variety theatre which was very popular at the time. It is situated in the centre of Stockport, an ideal location directly opposite the bus station. However it proved challenging to build, originally there was a row of houses already on the site where they wanted to build, so residents were moved and rehoused elsewhere. Stockport is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and in order to build the cinema they had to excavate an area of the sandstone. The cinema is essentially built into the cliff and the stage area sits within this. The cinema operated as a glamorous and eclectic venue up untill 1966 when it was purchased by Mecca and reopened as a bingo hall. Fortunately in 2000 the bingo hall closed down and The Plaza was listed as a grade II building by English Heritage Association and consequently purchased by The Plaza Trust who started restoration work. The restoration work has been ongoing ever since and during our visit we saw work being done to the front balcony to lower it to its original level.
The front of the plaza has been restored to how it would have originally looked, it has striking neon lights that stretch down the front of the exterior, making it a dazzling attraction in the evening. The entrance has had ticket booths made to fit in with era and the original art deco tiles and mosaics are visible. The Art Deco movement runs throughout the cinema and everything has been restored to how it would have looked when it first opened in the 1930s. This has been done by looking at a series of photographs in great detail, taken when the cinema first opened. The carpet has been replicated from a small original piece found, it is quite a striking geometric art deco style. From the entrance area we moved down to the bar where there are photographs of the patrons of The plaza who are; Leslie Phillips, CBE Sabrina, The Right Honourable, The Baroness Bakewell, DBE, & Ken Dodd OBE. We were taken to the front of the stage and shown the fantastic lighting that changes colour on the front of the stage and also the organ which rises to stage level when in use. The attention to detail is brilliant and even the curtain has been created to replicate the original. During the bingo years the spectacular ceiling which you can see today had been covered with fake ceilings, many original features had been covered up where as others were completely removed. With help of volunteers the Cinema is still in the process of being restored but the cinema that you see today is a great nostalgic representation of a 1930s cinema, complete with vintage tea room. Lottery funding and fundraising has enabled the restoration to take place. Many cinemas of this style were destroyed during The Second World War and others converted in to alternative venues, much like the Bingo hall so it is important that venues like this are recognised and conserved as pieces of history as well as given commercial appeal.
You can find out more about The Plaza at http://www.stockportplaza.co.uk/index.php including a full programme of films, theatre and events.
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