London’s oldest cinema reopens
The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley has extra cause to celebrate its centenary as it has reopened to the public after a refurbishment of its Grade II listed interior. The Phoenix was built in 1910 by Premier Electric Theatres and opened as The East Finchley Picturedrome in 1912. It has been open ever since and is believed to be one of the oldest purpose-built continuously operating cinemas in the UK.
The refurbishment had been in the pipeline for the past four years and it took two and a half years of fundraising, as well as a substantial donation from the Heritage Lottery Fund, before the plans could be realised. The work took six months to complete and Paul Homer, chief executive of the Phoenix Cinema Trust, said: "We’ve had lots of positive feedback since the reopening. We’ve managed to bring back all that was great about the building from its early days, while new spaces such as the café mean people can continue to enjoy the building into the future." See
www.phoenixcinema.co.uk