Campbeltown Picture House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Campbeltown Picture House |
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| General information | |
| Type | cinema |
| Architectural style | Glasgow style (art nouveau) |
| Location | Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland |
| Coordinates | 55°25′26″N 5°36′11″W / 55.4240°N 5.6031°W |
| Completed | 1913 |
| Opened | May 1913 |
| Renovated | 2016-2017 |
| Owner | Campbeltown Community Business Ltd |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Albert V. Gardner |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Burrell Foley Fischer LLP |
| Renovating firm | Corramore Construction |
| Structural engineer | David Narro Associates |
| Services engineer | Irons Foulner Consulting Engineers Ltd |
The Campbeltown Picture House is a super old movie theater in Campbeltown, Scotland. It opened way back in 1913, making it one of the very first cinemas built just for showing movies in Scotland! It's also special because it's the only one left in Scotland that looks like an old-fashioned "atmospheric theatre."
A Look Back in Time
People in Campbeltown often call it 'The Wee Pictures'. A student named Albert Gardner designed it. He studied art in Glasgow School of Art.
The cinema first opened in May 1913. It has shown movies almost non-stop since then. It only closed for a short time in the 1980s. The building has three floors. The movie projector is on the top floor. The balcony seating is on the middle floor. You enter the cinema on the ground floor.
In 1935, Albert Gardner was asked to update the cinema. He made it into an "atmospheric style" theater. This meant it had a blue sky ceiling with moving white clouds. It also had small plaster buildings. These were made to look like a sunny Mediterranean courtyard. New sound equipment was also added during this update.
In August 2017, the Picture House was chosen as one of Scotland's six 'Hidden Gems'. This was part of a special campaign called Dig It! 2017.
In November 2017, the National Library of Scotland received a gift. Campbeltown Community Business Ltd gave them old records about the Picture House. These records include old newspaper stories and building plans. They also have old ads and money records. There's even a story about a 1938 plane crash. The cinema had to close that night because the movie reels were on the plane!
Modern Updates
In 2016, a big project started to fix up the cinema. It cost £2.5 million and finished in 2017. Architects Burrell Foley Fischer and Corramore Construction did the work. Many groups helped pay for it. These included the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Scottish Government.
Now, the cinema has two movie rooms. One room has 192 seats. The other, smaller room has 53 seats. There is also a new entrance area. You can find a café, a gallery, and a learning space too. The first pictures of the newly updated cinema came out in November 2017.
