Story of Glasgow's 'supercinema' as campaigners bid to save it

It was less than a year after the new building, on the corner of Govan Road and McKechnie Street, had re-opened.

The original Lyceum Theatre - which had stood on the site since 1899 - was converted into a picture house in 1923, and burned down in 1937.

The new building was designed as a “streamlined, suburban supercinema” to seat 2600 people.

Inside the Lyceum. Govan (Image: Photos courtesy of Bruce Peter)

The architects were Charles John McNair and Robert Elder, who formed a partnership with Glasgow entrepreneur and cinema exhibitor George Urie Scott in the early 1930s.

Their Cinema Construction Company became one of the most successful cinema design firms in Scotland, producing designs for independent cinemas as well as the ABC chain.

As cinema audiences fell, the B-listed Govan Lyceum building was sold in 1974 and became the County Bingo Hall. Film screenings stopped entirely seven years later.

The original Lyceum Theatre in Govan (Image: Newsquest)

Gala Bingo bought the building in 2006, but it closed the same year and since then, it has been targeted by vandals.

Inside the bingo hall (Image: Bruce Murray)

It is now on the Buildings at Risk Register.

It feels like a far cry from its earliest days as a grand Govan landmark, firstly as the theatre, and latterly as the wonderful cinema.

The Lyceum in 2006 (Image: Newsquest)

Here, the Lyceum is pictured in 2006, when it was still the County Bingo Hall, with a blown-up photograph of the cinema in its heyday above the main entrance.

In 2003, the cinema provided a spectacular backdrop for artist and theatre director Benno Plassmann’s project "Screen, the Screen - Not Only for Life But Also For Christmas".

Benno Plassmann in 2003 (Image: Newsquest)

It combined a poem, specially written and read by Edwin Morgan, the city's poet laureate at the time, with stills from the films of Enrico Cocozza, all projected on to the facade of the Lyceum cinema. At the time, it was being used as a bingo hall.

The project was part of the 12-day Govan Gathering Light festival, which also saw the facade of the underground station come alive with images of space invaders and UFOs; and a nine-metre LED outdoor screen showed street interviews with Govan residents, past and present.

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The aim, said the organisers at the time, was to “not only to lift the general appearance and environment but also to encourage people to reconnect with their community.”

Tim Edwards, then partnership manager of Greater Govan Social Inclusion Partnership, said the Lyceum was one of the area’s many fine buildings, most of which had been neglected over the years.

Inside the old cinema and bingo hall (Image: Bruce Murray)

''What many people in the community have said is that they feel Govan has been simply knocked down and knocked down,” he told our sister newspaper The Herald.

“So many buildings have disappeared and the question raised by community leaders is - what is left?”

He added: “So what we're doing is highlighting what is left and saying we want to keep it and make it better.”

More than 20 years later, history is repeating itself as a group of campaigners are doing exactly that.

The Glasgow Times revealed earlier this week that local councillor Richard Bell is organising a petition for residents in the hope the historic building might be turned into a music venue, and live another rich life as a vibrant community hub.

What are your memories of the Govan Lyceum? Email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.