50 signatures reached
To: Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston
ELITE 100
The Elite/Crown has been closed for almost seven and a half years.
Opened in July 1923 as a purpose built cinema and closed on 1st January 2015, she has been in the hands of ' Ghost Owners ' who remain content to watch the building rot.
In 2011 the then council, placed a
Grade 2 ( Local ) Listing on the building, citing its' Architectural Interest and Community Value.
The listing was followed by an Article 4 Direction in March 2015, protecting it from imminent demolition when it was recognised as a building important to Middlesbrough, the Article 4 Direction was made permanent on 16th. November 2015
Why is this important?
During the 40s 50s and to a lessening degree, the early 60s Middlesbrough was home to 15 cinemas, Eight of those existed within One Square Mile of the town centre ... Today, only two remain standing, both purpose built, both designed by James Forbes.
The Elite never did get the two organs for which it was designed, settling instead for one, a Compton 6 Rank Organ which years later, thrilled those ABC Minors as it arose from the ' Depths Of Hell '
From its' opening in 1923 nothing changed until it closed for modernisation in 1964 when, everything changed.
Gone was the ornate plasterwork which surrounded the audience with passing passing references to Greek Gods ... Now ( I believe ) hidden behind dropped ceilings and studded walls.
Gone is the Art Deco Ballroom and Restaurant ... Gone, the quaint Tea Room of yesteryears.
The great Domed Glass Roof remains ... Magnificent, Vast, Cathedral like.
In a town which has seen many of its' Heritage Buildings destroyed in the name of progress ... This building which holds memories for the people of Middlesbrough as numerous as the bricks from which she is built must be saved ... For, where else would the ' Ghosts Of Cinema ' play
