The Central was built in 1894 as a Turkish baths, hence the moorish influence on the facade. It opened as a cinema in December 1920, seating around 500 in stalls and a small balcony. It closed sometime before 1936, probably never having been converted for sound.

Converted for church use in 1936, the building has retained that use ever since, with windows let into the side of the auditorium, and the projection room removed. The real interest in the building however is in its plaster screen, surrounded by decorative proscenium, still amazingly intact and looking stunning in 2006.

Bought by the Edinburgh-based Destiny Church three years ago, the interior of the building has been cleaned and repainted, and with new seats fitted in the balcony, and they have instigated a series of popular film showings, digitally projected, but utilising the original plaster screen.

Information about the regular film showings, and the Leith Film Festival can be found here.

The Central was C(s)-listed in 1977, and this was upgraded to Category B in 2008.

A full gallery of interior photos can be seen here.

Thanks to Peter Anderson and everyone at the Destiny Church for their warm welcome and taking the time to show us around their building.

References
The Last Picture Shows: Edinburgh, Thomas, 1984