Odeon Cinema, Brook Street, Wrexham

The Odeon Theatre was built for and operated by the Oscar Deutsch chain of Odeon Theatres. It opened on March 13, 1937 with Paul Robeson in Song of Freedom.

Designed by architect Harry Weedon, who was assisted by Budge Reid from the Harry Weedon Partnership, the Odeon was typical of the so-called Odeon Art Deco style of architecture. The facade was faced in cream faience tiles and had a slab tower feature located on the left-hand side, upon which was the theatre’s name. To the right of the entrance was a parade of shop units.

Inside the auditorium, seating was arranged in a semi-stadium style with no overhang on the raised balcony section and there were 958 seats in the stalls and 288 in the balcony. Lighting was via troughs across the ceiling which contained concealed lighting and there were six decorative panels on the splay walls each side of the proscenium opening which were designed by interior designers Mollo & Egan.

The Leader:

The Odeon began a policy of splitting the week between bingo and films from 1972 and closed as a cinema on May 15, 1976 with Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King. It was converted into a Top Rank Bingo Club which was later operated by Mecca Bingo. Mecca pulled out of the building in May 1999 in favour of newly built premises.

The Odeon was converted into a Chicago Rock Cafe which was located in the former front stalls area and Liquid Nightclub which used the rear of the building and the foyer areas.

Details and photos courtesy of wrexham-history.com

• What was the first big screen film you saw at the Odeon on Brook Street? What are your memories of the heyday of movies? Let us know here or email claire.pierce@newsquest.co.uk