Mecca Bingo Club

The Mecca Bingo Club, formerly the Capitol Cinema, was constructed in 1928-29 for Londesborough Theatre and Picture House (Scarborough) Ltd. It was designed by Gray and Evans of Liverpool, with Edwin Sheridan Evans acting as job architect. The building has a white faience facade, with return and rear walls in stock brick, built on a steel frame. The roof is not visible.

The symmetrical facade sits on a low, painted plinth that rises to account for the slope of the ground. The main entrance is sheltered by a canopy and is flanked by two smaller entrances and two exits, all enclosed by heavy mouldings and large keystones. Three tall central windows are positioned within a slightly projecting section beneath an enriched pediment with a cove cornice, topped by an oval cartouche. Side wings feature shallow aedicules with flat-pitched pediments above panels of Rinceau ornament, which continues as a frieze along the top of the central block, originally displaying the lettering "CAPITOL". Smaller vertical windows, surmounted by wreaths, are set between the central block and the aedicules.

Inside, a foyer leads to a large, double-height auditorium with a single balcony. The auditorium has a rusticated, coved proscenium and a canted ante-proscenium; the return bays face back into the auditorium. The ante-proscenium bays contain 'Neo-Grec' grilles, formerly housing organ chambers, with pointed hood arches above. A frieze of winged beasts with human heads, supporting ribbon wreaths and flanked by Rinceau ornament, sits above the proscenium. A dado rail with Rinceau panels, incorporating masks, runs along the walls. The side walls are treated as a heavily moulded arcade with false balconies containing lozenge ornamentation of a Gothic character, topped by mask keystones. Pilasters feature capitals with three rosettes each, and there is a dentil cornice and a plain barrel ceiling. A large balcony has a central entrance, and a shallow stage is present.

This is a large super-cinema from just before the introduction of sound films; the cinema was wired for sound towards the end of 1929. The original elaborate classical decorative details have largely survived, and the building was converted to a bingo club in 1977.