The first June report of the casino gave us hope to finally see inside this ex-cinema. We made a journey over one evening feeling apprehensive about the entrance to building still being open. We were in luck and quickly found ourselves setting foot in the huge main hall overwhelmed by the immense art-deco light fixture and intricate details. The hall is truly frozen in time with most bingo tables sat lifeless slowly decaying from the large volume of water entering the building. The contrasting state in here offers comparisons between the less damaged parts and the parts too far gone which is interesting to observe and document. The lobby has luckily been spared from the water damage and the art deco features remains in relatively good condition.
First up, the lobby which had a nice set of pillars spanning the width of the room. The staircase opens out to invite you up towards the main hall.
Round the rear of this staircase sits the two display cabinets and long hallways you may have seen before.
Now onto the hall... it is safe to say its a pain to light but made for a good challenge. We also fell victim to the treacherous floors numerous times!
The most impressive feature has to be this amazing light fixture!
This photograph demonstrates the 'stadium' seating design and shows the difference of layout since it became a bingo hall.
This is the view off of the left side balcony which is considered a more unique feature.
Underneath the proscenium was a 'buffet bar' for the bingo players to use. The menu still had the options displayed behind the bar which you can just make out from the photo below. Previously when the site was a cinema, a cafe was elsewhere inside the building that patrons of the cinema could use.
Here you can see the bar in use (sort of) and decorated for Christmas.
Clambering on-top of the bar gave the best view point of the entire hall. In my opinion it captures the scale of the room the best.
Our video here captures some of the parts we didn't photograph and gives you a closer look at what remains and the condition of the site. Feel free to watch below!:
