Dundee’s Art Deco Heritage 1. Green’s Playhouse.
Posted in Art Deco, Dundee, Scotland at 1:59 pm on 5 July 2009
The first one is of course of the most striking example of the form in the city. Even if it’s a travesty of its former glory you can’t miss the tower.
Green’s Playhouse was erected in the Nethergate in 1936 as a cinema but has now been converted (rather obviously) to a bingo Hall.
The following is from the Theatres Trust website.
“A large ‘super-cinema’ – second only in the UK in size to Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow (1927) – by John Fairweather. The lavish interior was by John Alexander, with Art Deco foyer and restaurant, and the auditorium, with Corinthian columns and piers marching down the side walls, was described as an ‘outstanding and enormous Classical/Art Deco theatre’. It was said to have set ‘standards of luxury unrivalled anywhere else in Scotland’. The exterior was dominated by a 25m lattice steel neon advertising tower, later clad with sheet metal. Bingo and other uses from 1967 until a devastating fire in 1995. The remains were deemed to be dangerous and demolition followed, although the tower survived and is listed (Category B).”
The Scottish cinemas website has some stonking old pictures of the Playhouse in its heyday, including a few of postcards that were made of the exterior, the foyer and Sunshine Café; not to mention of the management and staff! Those were the days. Some of the plans are shown there too.
The building was certainly much classier then than it is now.
Here are the external lighting cylinders in close up.
There’s a photo here of the cylinders with their tips lit up.
Tags: Art Deco, Dundee, Green's Playhouse, Scotland
ArtDecoBuildings
July 5, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Great looking building. Can’t wait to see what other deco gems you are going to show us from Dundee.
Cheers,
David
jackdeighton
July 6, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I don’t know about gems, as such. They’re Deco but not high Deco.
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August 31, 2009 at 7:04 pm
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Philip
September 20, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Hi, Greens Playhouse (now the bingo hall) is not the origional art deco building. It sadly burnt down several years back and was replaced by the building you show on your photos.
The fire was so bad, basically nothing survived of the origional art deco building.
The company who own the bingo hall, however recognised the importance of the “image” that the building had on the nethergate and tried to re-create the origional look.
In later days of the origional building all the exterior art deco features had been enclosed by a corrigated metal box and it didnt look good!
jackdeighton
September 20, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Thanks for this.
I know the outside didn’t look quite right.
But at least they made the attempt to keep it in style.
The old photos I linked to are fantastic though.
Mike
October 26, 2009 at 4:45 pm
In regards to the building with Tesco, it was a woolworths store, a while back, and only part of the middle floor is JJB, ground, half of middle and all of top floor belongs to Tesco.