Embassy / George
Portland Street Built as the Embassy, in 1937, for the KR Blair circuit. Designed by the prolific James McKissack, it had a cloud-shaped facade in cream tiles (similar to the surviving Raith in Kirkcaldy), with shop units either side of main entrance. Taken over by the George Palmer cicuit in 1946, and soon renamed as the George. Closed as a cinema in 1974, and lay derelict for a while, before the foyer and auditorium were demolished in 1986/7 to allow construction of flats. Only the shop-units on either side - still with their cream tiles - remain. Demolition gallery below (and archive shot above) c1987 courtesy Alistair Mulhearn; additional thanks to John Bigham. |