Olympia (MGM)

• Theatre ID
  65
• Built / Converted
  1899
• Dates of use
  • 1899 - 1935
• Current state
  Demolished
• Current use
  demolished
• Address
  63 Queen Street, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales

Details

The auditorium stands behind shops on the north side of Queen Street with a one-plot-wide front giving access via an arcade. The building itself, never visible to the public and therefore in plain red brick, clearly shows its origins as a late Victorian concert hall. It was converted to a theatre in 1899 and was known as the Olympia from 1912, when it reopened as a cinéariety house. On modernisation as a cinema in 1935 it retained its stage. ABC took over in 1936. The stage finally went when the cinema was tripled in 1976.

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• Other names
  Andrews Hall, Olympia, ABCs 1,2 & 3, later: Cannon, MGM
• Events
  • 1899 - 1935 Use:
  • Design/Construction: n.d. Solomon Andrews Concert Hall
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1899 Alteration: conversion to theatre
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1912 Alteration: conversion to cinema
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1935 Alteration: cinema modernised
    • Howard Williams - Architect
  • 1976 Alteration: tripled
    • Unknown - Architect
  • Owner/Management: Solomon Andrews
  • 1922 Owner/Management: Olympia Cardiff Ltd (Andrews family as owners)
  • 1899 Owner/Management: Oswald Stoll, lessee
  • 1902 Owner/Management: Moss Empires Ltd, lessees
  • 1936 Owner/Management: Associated British Cinemas Ltd, lessees
  • 1992 Owner/Management: MGM Cinemas
• Capacities
  • Later: 1936: 2047
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed