The County/George cinema

My blip today is the sad story of the County Cinema in Bath Street, Portobello, Edinburgh. 

Opened in 1939 (top left), showing ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, the cinema was a main attraction in the town, changing it’s name to the George in 1954. It continued to be a cinema until 1974 when it became a bingo hall, lasting as that until it closed. Today, it looks quite sad (top left) (bottom left).

The façade of the County, had cladding panels made of ‘Shockcrete’, an innovative type of pre-cast concrete, invented in the Netherlands in 1931 (there known as Schokbeton).

It has lain empty for many years, although, there are revised plans to refurbish the facade while turning it into a number of flats (bottom right). Not sure how that proposal is going though.

Hopefully, it can be saved and does not end up being demolished due to no decisions being made. I often think some planners secretly want things to go slowly, so that the building deteriorates so much that it had to be demolished for safety reasons - thus leaving a nice clean footprint to build their nice shoe boxes on!

I hope you have had a good day.