The Odeon Cinema is a former cinema, later a bingo club, banqueting suite and events venue, in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, West Midlands, England. it is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The cinema was built by Harry Weedon and Partners for the

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

company of Oscar Deutsch. There were 1,272 seats in the stalls and 668 in the circle. The opening on 11 September 1937 was attended by Oscar Deutsch and the Mayor of Wolverhampton Sir Charles Mander, and the first film shown was '' Dark Journey''."Odeon Wolverhampton"
''Cinema Treasures''. Retrieved 12 January 2025. It was converted in 1973 to have three screens, with two small cinemas under the balcony. After closing in 1983 it became a Top Rank Bingo Club, with conversion back to a single auditorium, and later

Mecca Bingo Mecca Bingo (formerly called Top Rank) is a British operator of bingo clubs, with over 70 locations throughout the country. Mecca Bingo is owned by the Rank Group, which operates bingos, casinos and online gambling in Belgium, Spain and Britain. ...

. It was given listed status by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, Grade II, in 2000. The bingo club closed in 2007; in 2009, after refurbishment, the building opened as the Diamond Banqueting Suite, which closed in March 2020 at the time of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2023, after refurbishment, it opened as an events venue The Astoria."Wolverhampton's former Odeon cinema to be transformed into new venue"
''

Express and Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publis ...

'', 15 August 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2025

Description

It is built in Moderne style; the brick building has cream

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...

cladding on the tower and above the entrance, and black faience on the fin projecting from the façade. The interior also retains original features. The listing text comments: "The façade is a particularly successful essay in streamlined modernism, with no drastic subsequent alterations. The tower and fin feature advertises the cinema, creating a landmark."

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline Buildings and structures completed in 1937 Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton Former cinemas in England Grade II listed cinemas Moderne architecture