Kingsway Kings Heath

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The Kingsway is a former cinema building located on the Parade, Kings Heath High St, Birmingham.

The Kingsway was designed by noted cinema and theatre architect Horace G Bradley, who designed many theatres and cinemas across the West Midlands area during “The Golden Age of Cinema”, in the 1920s and 1930s. He was famed for his mix of art deco and neoclassical designs and there are signs of both in the design of The Kingsway.

The cinema first opened on March 2nd, 1925 and the first films shown were "Down to the Sea in Ships", starring Clara Bow and “Circusmania”, starring Max Linder. It closed as a cinema in May 1980 when the final films were The Bermuda Triangle and a documentary feature "Encounter with Disaster". As a cinema the building had 1362 seats arranged in stalls and floor seats.

It was converted into a bingo hall by Essoldo Bingo and then in 1982 was purchased by Gala Bingo which operated it until 2007 before it closed its doors for the last time. It has remained unused since the closure of the bingo hall and on the morning on 17 September 2011 it was set alight damaging the majority of the building.

It has since been the subject of various planning applications before Nestings Redleaf, a community property developer comprised of Community Healthcare developers Nestings Group and Commercial Property Developers, Redleaf, purchased the building via auction in 2016. Nestings Redleaf have since begun demolition of the fire-damaged element of the site and are preparing plans for redevelopment.

References

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