Palace Cinema (Blackburn)

The Place Cinema was in The Boulevard, Blackburn, Lancashire and opened on Monday, October 26, 1936.

The Palace Cinema was on the corner of Jubilee Street and Railway Road, opposite Blackburn Railway Station.

The Palace Theatre had opened on Monday, December 11, 1899 as The Palace Theatre of Varieties, and was designed by the architectural firm Wimperis and Arbour, assisted by W.G.R. Sprague. Operated as a variety theatre by the Livermore brothers, it had a total seating capacity for 2,500, of which 1,000 of these were in the gallery at the top of the theatre. The theatre had 25 feet wide proscenium and a 30 feet deep stage.

Within months of opening the Livermore brothers had gone into liquidation, and the Palace Theatre of Varieties was taken over by the Sheffield based MacNaghten Vaudeville Circuit from Monday, September 10, 1900. It was closed as a variety theatre in June 1932, and lay dormant for several years until it opened as The Palace Cinema on Monday, October 26, 1936.

On Saturday, December 28, 1957 The Palace Cinema closed with the film 'Last Of The Badmen.' Infact all MacNaghten Vaudeville Circuit cinemas and theatres closed on this day.

Information courtesy: John H. Warburg April 2024